New Album Reviews

Tyler Childers Rustin' In The Rain Hickman Holler / RCA

Given his current high profile as one of the leading lights in country music to have emerged in the past half-decade, Tyler Childers can, and indeed does, do whatever he pleases. Often refreshingly outspoken - remember his outburst at The AmericanaFest Honours & Awards Show in 2018, when his acceptance speech on being awarded the Emerging Artist of The Year included a scathing attack on the Americana genre. Not afraid to speak bluntly about social issues, his 2020 record, LONG VIOLENT HISTORY, addressed issues such as racism, police brutality and civil unrest and he voiced his misgivings around religion on his 2022 album, CAN I TAKE MY HOUNDS TO HEAVEN?

RUSTIN’ IN THE RAIN, finds the Lawrence Country, Kentucky artist in a more relaxed mood. It’s a seven-track album that lasts less than thirty minutes and includes two covers, both songs often included in his live shows, Kris Kristofferson’s Help Me Make It Through The Night, and fellow Kentuckian, S.G Goodman’s Space and Time. Also included are a couple of classic country love tunes, the knockout Phone Calls and Emails - surely the first country song to include ‘emails’ in the lyrics - and the equally impressive In Your Love. The YouTube official video of the latter features a relationship between two males, further commendable evidence of Childers’ unwillingness to ‘play safe’ with his art. Also featured are two honky tonk barroom type romps with the title track and Percheron Mules and the hymn-like Luke 2:8-10.

The overall feeling you’re left with is one of an artist simply treading water and having a good time recording with his terrific backing band, The Food Stamps, alongside Erin Rae, Margo Price, S.G. Goodman, Ronnie McCoury, Jason Carter and Alan Bartram, all of whom contribute backing vocals. It may be more like an appetiser than a main course but, having said that, it’s still of a quality considerably higher than anything else being recorded under the genuine ‘country’ genre at present.

Review by Declan Culliton

Van Plating Orange Blossom Child Self-Release

Florida has been a hotbed for artists touching on all genres in popular music, with the traditional country singer Mel Tillis to the more experimental country of Gram Parsons, and from bluesman Gabriel Brown to the more mainstream rock legend Tom Petty. A native of Florida, Van Plating’s third solo album, ORANGE BLOSSOM CHILD, taps into all these genres with a project that found her digging deeply into her family history and life in rural Florida.

She’s out of the traps in full tilt with the opener and title track, stinging guitars, a driving rhythm, and fiery vocals tip their hat in the direction of Tom Petty. Equally catchy is The Heron, which features guest vocals from Elizabeth Cook, who also left rural Florida to pursue her artistic career. An instantly arresting song with a theme of homesickness and longing, The Heron borrows a chorus riff from Guns N’ Roses’ Paradise City. In fact, Cook is only one of over thirty contributors that Van Plating called upon, with The Damn Quails, Reckless Kelly and Ottoman Turks all credited.

The hymn-like Jesus Saved Me On The Radio is a slow-burning delight and she pulls no punches calling out the philanderer on the countryish Big Time Small Shot. Driven by a raging fiddle and thumping drums, there’s no happy ending in sight either on They’re Gonna Kill You Anyway. The previously mentioned Reckless Kelly provide backing vocals on the album’s standout track The Hard Way, with Van Plating’s uplifting vocal - a common thread across the album’s eleven tracks - imparting the song’s emotion to perfection.

An album that is very much 90s country in its production and instrumentation and one that explores Van Plating’s heritage, both memorable and heartrending, it’s loaded with tracks that draw the listener in and hold their attention.

Review by Declan Culliton

Scott Southworth Comin’ Round To Honky Tonk Again Flaming Tortuga

There is no doubting Southworth’s commitment to delivering country music in its most traditional and hardcore form. That he may not be as “cool” as some of his contemporaries is a wry look at some of the other recent contenders for the honky-tonk crown. In the opening title track he lists some of those he both admires and respects in the list he reels off of the newer and more established names who have acquired something of the ‘cool’ factor such as Dale Watson, Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpson, Charlie Crockett, Jessie Daniels, Dallas Moore and Nikki Lane. But in truth he stands alongside them in music and talent and he rightly declares that “I hope you like your country real as I ain’t here to reinvent the wheel.”

From then on he evokes some of the best delivering songs that would have easily have been hits over twenty years ago but today hardly get a look in at radio. There are tracks that would easily fit an Alan Jackson album at his finest. Southworth can deliver with the best of them on equal terms both in his writing and his undoubtably fit-for-purpose vocals. There is some outright humour in Granny Used To Honky Tonk a song featuring the aforementioned Dallas More who co-wrote the song with Southworth. One of a number that have been co-written but all having that classic feel that makes you think they have been around for quite a while.

Here Comes The Night takes the night time’s affinity to cover the protagonist’s pain to be disguised by its very nature. So that he can use that time of the day to hit the bars that might help him deal with a departed partner and his resulting loneliness. That search for a lost love is the subject of the considered again in Getting Over You Again wherein there is a pattern of repeated failure. A strong vocal from Southworth shows his range and understanding of how to deliver a song. Another song is about a woman who “gets under his skin” in the most prominent way as she is the Women On My New Tattoo.

He also considers the universality of the three chords and the truth that allows that, in the right hands, the genre to be something that can and does exists outside of the States with Country No Matter What County. A conduit, in many songs that relate to degrees of heartache (and its aftermath), fit right into the honky tonk ferment of alcohol is present, front and centre, with both Drinking For Two and When The Bottle Goes Dry.

It can’t help to add that old favourite, that may no longer allowed in modern pop country realm, is the discovery of an unfaithful partner and their subsequent demise, along with the cheating partner, that is Riding Sparky Tonight. Though it is seldom delivered in such an upbeat musical setting as this tale of a man ultimate acquaintance with the electric chair.

Later we are in the realm of something much more relaxing and that is the oft referred to pastime of fishing (especially in country songs) which is what Just Fishing is all about.

Production is credited to Buddy Hyatt and it was recorded in Nashville with such celebrated and names from the credits of 90s albums such as Lonnie Wilson, Steve Hinson, Joe Spivey, Brent Mason and Dan Tyminski alongside other fine players. It is a labour of love for all concerned and is the essence of ongoing immersion in the joys of honky tonk - whoever you might be from.

Review by Stephen Rapid.

Ross Cooper Lightening Heart Self Release

It’s clear from this project that Ross Cooper is a man who has both authenticity and aptitude. A second-generation rodeo cowboy, his passion is for that music and the story songs that he writes. He is not an ‘all hat - no cattle’ kind of guy, as he makes clear in the upbeat twang setting of Everybody Wants To Be A Cowboy. He notes in that song that everybody wants the look but they don’t want the work involved with being the real thing. As a result, he has the right to both the hat and the embroidered suit as a sign of his affiliations. He is inspired by the great Texas songwriters and also the spirit of Lubbock embodied by the inspiration of storywriters like Joe Ely.

Locations are a part of his existence, at least in the songs away. Chicago is a positive reminiscence of that city while, maybe not so memorable, is the city that is the subject of Life’s Too Short To Live In Dallas. The title track, in common with a number of tracks here, takes a more reflective, gentler musical approach, that relies on some understated but emphatic ensemble playing. It is also a song that relates to a physical condition that causes him to suffer arrhythmia at often inopportune moments - such as being onstage. It is a condition he has come to terms with but undoubtedly one which affects his outlook. Sleeping With A Stranger is about a man feeling unworthy of the love of a partner that is creating a disconnect between them. Waiting For Me has an alluring melody and chorus, and is a song of hope to find that special person he wants in his life. That sense of positivity runs throughout the album’s thirteen tracks. The final song, Welcome You Back, closes the release on a high note. It’s a memorable song that has the best of all the elements coming together from the album, leaving you wanting to hear “the best he can be” again and to be welcomed back when he returns with the next step in his musical journey.

Cooper handles the production alongside Kevin Harper and Josh Serrato, who also engineered the recording, while the former added violin along with a solid group of additional musicians on guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and pedal steel. It changed what had originally been a more acoustic based idea to a more accomplished and rounded concept that allowed Copper to expand his musical vision. One that incorporated his cowboy-related experiences with something wider and more considered, allowing him to draw on all parts of his ability to tell stories based on his own life and that of others. It is a forward move from his previous album and its overall benevolent nature makes you want to get to know the man and his music more.

Review by Stephen Rapid.

Josh Travis Few Of Days & Full Of Trouble Self Release

This is the debut full-length album from the Pennsylvanian songwriter. Within it, Travis faces his own issues of loss, love and his own personal faith. The opening track Secondhand Smoke sets up the general mood, It is a solid band sound that builds on its folk roots with a striking chorus about living and loving the best life you can under difficult conditions. It also marks Travis as another writer with something to say. The ten tracks are the mark of a thoughtful writer, who penned all the material here.

Overall, there is a sense of hard-won reality in many of the topics for the material. The Only Good In Me is full of the need for acceptance which sits alongside the nefarious needs that also arise. A particular standout is Poor Johnny, which has touches of Townes van Zandt mixed with Chris Knight and openly sees the potential of Travis growth as an artist. With rock-edged guitar, it details the tale of desperation leading to poor choices and bad results.

Taking a more rural tack is The Beat Up Paint, the story of an old horse that is folky in delivery with harmonica playing its part in setting the tone of this slow-paced ballad of inevitability, but making the best of what is on offer for a run-down life. The music perfectly illustrates the song’s approach to the overlooked life of a much-loved animal. There are more acoustic moments too, such as the Opequon, a song that paints a picture again of the heartfelt memories of a life lived with friends and loved ones and the sadness of an early loss.

There are also songs, Change Of Heart and Picture Of You, that look at the need for love and its possible redemption. The description of a group of friends on a road trip and the things they got up is described in a Hot Week In August, it fairly motors along at an up-tempo pace. Chains is a description of the things that can hold a person back and the realisation of that fate. It features a strong guitar break that underscores that sentiment. The title track again picks up the tempo and marries the acoustic and electric sides of the album and again points out the overall commitment of the assembled players.

Travis produced the album with Al Torrence (who is also receiving praise for his similar duties in the new Charles Wesley Godwin album). The pair have put together a great sound and an album that has some writing to match, topped by Travis’ purposeful vocals and evolving growth as a writer since he released his debut EP several years ago. He has used the time well and this debut identifies a talent that should be marked out as one to watch out for with his future output. 

Review by Stephen Rapid

Jon Byrd All Your Mistakes Self Release

It is a pleasure to hear again the mature life-worn voice of Jon Byrd back with a full-length album. He is again accompanied by his comrade and pedal steel maestro Paul Niehaus. The album was produced with depth and skill by Joe V. McMahan, who has brought more than a hint of earlier times with the assembled players and the use of arranged strings which add an additional layer to the material, they were performed and recorded by Chris Carmichael. Alongside the above-mentioned you can add the skills of bassist Chris Donahue, percussionist Bryan Owings, Steve Conn’s keyboards and Andrea Zone on fiddle as well as McMahan own contributions on acoustic and electric guitar. Zonn also joins Shannon Wright and Amelia White on harmony vocals. Byrd adds his acoustic guitar but also self-deprecatingly describes himself as the “worst person in the band.” A comment which belies the fact the obvious focal point here is Byrd’s vocal contribution as the backing behind it. But the end results made him feel like “a million dollars.”

Golden Colorado is first up, a track written by Byrd and singer/songwriter Stephen Simmons, a song about the gold rush. There is a sense of pessimism at the heart of the relationship dissolution detailed in an openly descriptive way in (It Won’t Be Long) And I’ll Be Hating You, written by the legendary Johnny Paycheck with Aubrey Mayhew and Billy Merrin. That is also the subject matter in Why Must You Think Of Leaving about a liaison that asks that question of a partner he believes is really of the opposite viewpoint. It is a subtle soundscape with Niehaus’ steel adding to that overall mood. It was co-written with Shannon Wright and a version also appeared on his recent EP ME & PAUL. Byrd shares the writing on several of the tracks as well as including a number of songs written by others including (Now And Then) A Fool Such As I, Tom Paxton’s Woman Sensuous Woman, Ian Tyson’s Four Strong Winds. All are fitting to his vocal essence and the overall arrangements which standout throughout.

Miss Kitty’s Place is a reminiscence of the return to a location that in the past had offered some late-night solace but now, on return, a lot of things have been long closed and gone. I’ll Be Her Only One is a love song that is a wish to return to a happier and earlier time when he will again be the sole object of her desire. The interplay between the pedal steel and violin gives the backbone to the delivery. The old standard (Now And Then) A Fool Such As I closes out the album and is a throwback to his recent and regular performances with just himself and Niehaus, who plays in the older Hawaiian steel guitar style. It is a sparse but effective rendition that captures the spirit of the song’s sense of resignation.

Byrd and his team mates have produced the best album of his career with ALL YOUR MISTAKES.  It’s an album that undoubtedly will be enjoyed by punters at his regular live shows in Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge, those who are acquainted with his previous work, or those who are interested in country-styled songs with use an arranged string section.

Review by Stephen Rapid.

Tony Zamora & Tremoloco Curanda - Volume 1 Slo Poke

If you have a hankering for that Tex Mex border sound and some authentic Spanish language vocals, accordion and Cajun fiddle, then this is the right place for you. Amalgamated together as Tremoloco describe their music on their website as ‘Cantina Music.’ It’s an encompassing blend of Texas Mexican Roots Americana that also includes some straight country and even a bit of Celtic (Dixie Overland Highway) and folk and more, resulting in an enjoyable musical stew that will suit many tastes. 

They are fronted by Tony Zamora, who is the songwriter and co-producer of the album, along with band member Cougar Estrada. Both are adept on a number of instruments and they are joined by third member Roberto Rodriquez on accordion and vocals. However, it doesn’t stop there, with a further 17 players guesting on tracks recorded in sessions around Texas locations such as Austin, Houston, El Paso, and well as locations in California. So, it would seem that this has been put together over a period of time. With a number of albums already under their belt they are accomplished and seasoned musicians. They have had several different players in their ranks in the past, including our friend Rick Shea, but they often tour as a four/five piece with Willy Golden on upright steel and Jeff Paul Ross on guitar, both of whom were involved in this recording.

A hard riff sets up the drug-related tale of Mezcal, it has a business-like guitar break that has some clout. There are some penny-whistle contributions in the aforementioned Dixie Overland Highway which seems to relate, in part, to the demise of Bonny and Clyde. This is in contrast to other tracks in terms of sound and accentuates the diversity of the music here, and so it goes over the twelve tracks on the album. The Man Who Never Cries is a pure country duet between Zamora and Hannah Underwood, alongside the emphatic steel guitar of Marty Muse. The accordion is central to Más Que Nada, which has a mix of English and Spanish lyrics to enforce the mood of the fate of migrants and those who have been a part of the territory for longer than most. Harmonica opens the slow-burning unfolding tale of One Hand. The Tex Mex disposition returns with the cautionary Sunday Sinners - It has another fine guitar break and some strong harmony vocals. Things pick up a notch with Monterrey which can’t fail to make you want to dance.

What follows is a more reflective by wondering how and whether a person may be remembered in the future.100 Years features the pedal steel again to add to its atmospheric melancholy. Place is as important as time and the album closes with songs that underscore this. Firstly the Spanish language heritage of Mexicano and El Paso which sound traditional in approach and uses voices strongly on the chorus. Finally, Curandera closes the album in a cinematic and evocative formula.

Many of the tracks run past the four-minute mark but never seem overlong and throughout you are aware of the inherent talent of all those involved. Bands like The Mavericks, and in the past the Texas Tornados, as well as countless bands from the region have popularised this cross-border sound and cultural links, to these you can add the name of Tremoloco who, though new to me, made a strong impression with the sound and vision. 

Review by Stephen Rapid

Mike Spine and the Underground All Star Band  Guided By Love Self Release

This new release is laced with very good songs and falls into the Americana music camp. Spine is from Seattle, Washington and has released eleven albums over his career. The best place to discover him is on the 2018 compilation; FORAGE & GLEAN, Volumes I&II. The two volumes contain 32 songs and represent an anthology of Spine’s best songwriting and recording across the last two decades. This new album is worthwhile and contains gems like Pancho and Lefty, Part Two – an imagined follow-up to the classic Townes Van Zandt song. Other songs that resonate are Bloodless Eyes and Some Shows, which looks at the many situations in which musicians are expected to perform. Not easy to keep body and soul together as a travelling minstrel but Mike Spine is a road warrior and worthy of your time.

Review by Paul McGee

Loveflowers Golden Leaves Self Release

This Swedish americana band release a mini album with six songs that provides ample proof of their impressive sound. The band formed in 2006 and has released a number of prior albums over the years. They play live on a regular basis in Sweden and have travelled to America also in search of a wider audience. Michael Greiffe (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Leif Thörner (lead vocals, guitar, slide guitar), and Yvonne Greiffe (lead vocals, percussion, backing vocals) comprise the original trio and they are joined by Mattis Johansson (upright bass), and Robert Ljungberg (pedal steel, lap steel, guitar and mandolin) on these engaging songs.  Return My Heart is a highlight with the slow tempo building an atmosphere of regret (think Cowboy Junkies). Frozen Tears and Return My Heart are also  fine examples of the songcraft on display and the closing Final Dance is memorable with a restrained groove and a message of hope for reconciliation.

Review by Paul McGee

Tyler Childers, Van Plating, Jon Byrd, Scott Southworth, Ross Cooper, Josh Travis, tremoloco1.bandcamp.com , MIKE SPINE

John Blek Until The Rivers Run Dry We Are Rats

For his eighth studio album, Cork’s John Blek returned to work with his previous collaborator Brian Casey in his Wavefield Recordings studio in Clonakilty, where they jointly produced this 10 track project. Luxuriating in the fact that he no longer had to stay home and record and play  everything solo in his home studio (as was the case with his 2021 lockdown album, GROUNDED), Blek has gone the whole hog this time and given this album a truly lush production. He has moved quite a distance from his original image as a finger-style solo acoustic guitar folkie, but at the heart of the sound is still his song craft and the catchy melodies he wraps around those songs.

One half of the album comprises unashamedly romantic songs, to which the wall of sound production style lends itself perfectly. Opener St. John’s Eve continues the theme and sentiment of Long Strand (from 2021’s ON ETHER & AIR), ‘stayed out the whole night through/up on the hill with you’, but this time with Cathy Davey’s backing vocals, and a big strings sound courtesy of Colm Mac Con Iomaire (The Frames). Along with theses two contributors on all the tracks, Blek also calls again on jazz pianist Kit Downes, Davy Ryan on drums and programmed drums, and Chris McCarthy on bass. Co-producer Brian Casey plays guitars, Hammond organ and Mellotron. The track which also gives the album its name, ‘Til The Rivers Run Dry, is another big love song with a big production, and one of the standouts. His proposal of marriage to his muse is the inspiration for the touching Once In A While (21/07), while in Lyric & Air, he again declares his love, ‘I can’t get you out of my head/but why would I want to?’ The quintet of romance is completed by Lovelorn, where he declares that ‘I’d take a life for you/and bury the bodies too’- who could ask for more passion and commitment?

By contrast, on the other five songs, Blek explores the uncertainty of life, the anxiety and fear that can stalk our lives, especially post-pandemic. On Restless Sea, he returns to his familiar metaphors of birds and the sea. Raven’s Cry evokes bleakness and self doubt with the refrain ‘I am the raven’s cry/Hollow, dissatisfied/Empty as the earth beneath the snow/I am hollow’. Most dramatic of all is Come Undone, where the gothic, eerie atmosphere induces the feeling of being drawn into a bad dream. Chilling stuff.

The prominent use of programmed drums and Mellotron contribute to the move towards electronica that has always been present on Blek’s previous albums, but there’s a conscious move to a more chamber pop feel on this one. Perhaps some fans will miss the predominance of his English folk influenced finger style guitar playing here, but this could well be Blek’s most commercial sound to date. Being the musical chameleon that he has shown himself to be in the past, who knows what he will do next? I will be watching with interest.

Review by Eilís Boland

Margo Cilker Valley of Hearts’s Delight Loose

With the release of her debut album on hold mid-pandemic in 2020 and her freedom of movement restricted, Margo Cilker’s thoughts turned to her birthplace of Santa Clara Valley in California, previously named the Valley of Heart’s Delight, due to its extensive fruit orchards and lush lands during the first half of the 20th century. Holed up in Enterprise, Oregon (population 1940), and with her husband Forrest Van Tuyl’s days occupied working at a cattle ranch, her writing focused primarily on her years at the Santa Clara Valley, her family history in the region, long-lost teenage friends and the location’s evolution from agriculture to its current state as a commuter belt for those working for the high-tech companies now located in Silicon Valley. 

Having sent the songs to Sera Cahoone, the producer who had overseen Cilker’s debut album, POHORYLLE, her concentration shifted to promoting and touring that debut album as travel restrictions lifted and the world gradually returned to some degree of normality. Finally released in 2021, that album was greeted with open arms both in The US and in Europe, resulting in an extensive touring schedule on both sides of the pond. Equally impressed by the songs that would become VALLEY OF HEART’S DELIGHT, Cahoone booked studio time at the same studio in Vancouver, Washington, where she had previously recorded with Cilker. Over two days and with the same players that featured on POHORYLLE, they completed the eleven-track recording. Also joining in the recording were Paul Brainard (Richmond Fontaine) on pedal steel, Annie Staninec (Mary Gauthier) on fiddle and Caleb Klauder (Foghorn Stringband) on mandolin.

‘What do I do with the middle, between the coffee and the wine?’ Cilker asks on the open-hearted With The Middle. Awash with mournful pedal steel, it displays a personal unguardedness and vulnerability not evident previously in her writing. Crazy Or Died recalls lost friends and family, and in particular a close friend now homeless and lost in a haze of substance abuse and mental illness. She gets deeply into a groove that recalls the full sound of The Band on the altogether more upbeat Keep It On A Burner and I Remember Carolina. The former is a reminder of life’s often underappreciated and simple pleasures. Having left home in her late teens, the latter song fondly remembers Cilker’s nomadic lifestyle that followed, together with some childhood journeys. Less frenzied but equally impressive are the introspective ballads Beggar For Your Love and Santa Rosa. Also included is a raucous and playful cover of Ben Walden’s Steelhead Trout, before Cilker signs off with the acoustic, All Tied Together. A consideration of connections to the past and life choices taken along the way, it’s a fitting closing statement to an album with very few, if any, wasted lines.

It is a novel situation to have a second album fully written prior to the release of a debut record, but VALLEY OF HEART’S DELIGHT is more than a fitting heir to its predecessor. Combining Cilker’s crystal clear pronunciation and ‘reckoning of the soul’ lyrics, it is further substantiation of the emergence in recent years of an artist whose talents continue to blossom.

Review by Declan Culliton

Jobi Riccio Whiplash Yep Roc

‘I think most people’s late teens and early 20’s is a really difficult, confusing, and isolating time. Whiplash, the song and album, is a reflection on that’ explains Jobi Riccio, reflecting on her debut full-length album.  

The Morrison, Colorado-born singer songwriter’s album gives the listener an insight into those personal endeavours, passing from adolescence to womanhood. Her 2019 EP, STRAWBERRY WINE, found Riccio dipping her toes into the classic country music she grew up with. If that album was the introduction to a songwriter, vocalist and guitar player of immense potential, this eleven-track record is the work of an artist who has matured beyond recognition over those short few years. In this project, Riccio confronts her sexuality and character formation full-on and with no holds barred, exorcizing some past hurdles and moving forward confidently and with her head held high.

Riccio received the 2019 Lee Villiare Scholarship from the Berkeley College of Music. She was also awarded the Newport Folk Festival John Prine Fellowship earlier this year, so it’s no surprise that Yep Roc bought into that talent and signed her to their iconic label.

‘I’ve squeezed these hips into someone else’s jeans and I have said I’m sorry when I didn’t need to be,’ she notes with regret and a degree of defiance on Sweet. It’s a high-octane and fiercely intense song and the album’s standout track for me. Riccio’s ballads are every bit as measured and no more so than on the simply gorgeous love song, For Me It’s You. Also in the low gears are the opener Summer and Kinder To Myself. The former is a bittersweet affair of unforeseen rejection and the latter is a statement of intent and rebirth. The cleverly expressed title track, Whiplash, mulls over the writer’s rollercoaster and emotional voyage from adolescence to adulthood.

Combining themes of joy and sadness, WHIPLASH addresses Riccio’s life journey in a frank, confident, and unequivocal manner. A compelling blend of indie-folk and country, it hits the bullseye on all counts. Expressive songwriting, razor-sharp playing, and crystal-clear vocals all add up to a hugely impressive album and delightfully accessible listen.

Review by Declan Culliton

Victoria Bailey A Cowgirl Rides On Rock Ridge

Surrounded by music growing up, her father was a drummer in a rock band and her mother was a lover of both folk and rock, Orange County singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Victoria Bailey’s teens were spent surrounded by the sounds of The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Cat Stevens, James Taylor and Sheryl Crow. Her inroads and passion for traditional country music came only in her late teens from playing country music bars and various music venues in L.A.  She may be a relatively latecomer to the genre and may not have the Appalachian heritage of some of her peers. However, her debut solo album, JESUS, RED WINE & PATSY CLINE, from 2020, totally embraced both the 50s and 60s Bakersfield sound of her native California.  Her latest record, A COWGIRL RIDES ON, finds her switching her attention to the old-timey, gospel, and bluegrass sound of former years.

We described that debut album at Lonesome Highway as ‘one of the year’s most impressive and dazzling country albums’ and it’s fair to say that Victoria’s latest offering falls very much into that same category.  JESUS, RED WINE & PATSY CLINE was an introduction to a silver-voiced vocalist with the skillset to pen catchy, immediately accessible and often playful songs. Victoria’s follow-up project reveals an artist maturing as a songwriter, with one foot in the present and one foot in the past.

On the opening and title track, a co-write with producer and one-time Dwight Yoakam sideman, Brian Whelan, Bailey announces, ‘She’s a drifter miles from it all, with no one around her or a place to call home.’ The song was inspired by the travel memoirs that Melissa Chapman recorded in her book, Distant Skies, which documented her horseback journey from the East to the West coast of America in the 70s. The song is a two-dimensional tale mirroring Victoria’s personal and professional journey.

Recorded live in L.A. under the watchful eye of Brian Whelan, the musicianship of the four players that contributed is wonderful, not surprising given their collective pedigrees. Whelan played guitar and backing vocals, Ted Russell Kamp was on upright bass, pedal steel and dobro is credited to Jeremy Lond, and Philip Glenn played fiddle, mandolin and banjo. The icing on the cake are the backing vocals and harmonies from Leeann Skoda.

The sonic terrain broadly reflects Victoria’s love of gospel and bluegrass, with tracks like Snake Trails, Down From The Mountain, and Sweet By And By, all sounding like resurrected treasures from the past. She also includes the traditional song Waiting At The Gate, previously recorded by Ricky Scaggs. It’s not all old-school country either, Forever, You & I is a carefully measured and tender breakup song and the album’s stand-out track for me. Equally searching is the song Sabina, which tells of the reckless adventures of a woman who openly challenges traditional gender roles.

If Victoria Bailey’s debut solo album was a pointer towards a self-assured artist with the potential to establish herself as a leading light among the younger breed of breakthrough country artists, A COWGIRL RIDES ON finds her continuing to move swiftly in that direction.

Review by Declan Culliton

Jim Lauderdale The Long and Lonesome Letting Go Sky Crunch

Just when the very unlikely scenario of Jim Lauderdale not releasing an album in 2023 seemed to becoming a reality, up pops this little gem. With thirty-five albums already in his back catalogue, and at least one album released each year, Lauderdale continues his genre-hopping voyage with THE LONG and LONESOME LETTING GO. If his 2022 record, GAME CHANGER, was his most traditional country recording in quite a while, he has returned to his love of bluegrass this time around and hooked up with the Nashville- based Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, for this album. Lauderdale has released full-on bluegrass records in the past, most notably his 1999 collaboration with the legendary Ralph Stanley and The Clinch Mountain Boys, I FEEL LIKE SINGING TODAY. If that project was a case of working with an artist that Lauderdale had admired for many years, the shoe is on the other foot on this occasion with Lauderdale taking on the role of master to a young bunch of artists who have been enthusiasts of his for many years.

The initial connection was made at MerleFest in North Carolina a few years ago when the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys invited Lauderdale to join them in their set and following a number of hook ups at various festivals, a commitment was made to record together. The twelve-track album is a combination of six co-writes by Lauderdale and Po’ Ramblin’ Boys guitarist Josh Rinkel, and co-writes between Lauderdale and bluegrass household names Becky Buller, Joe Newberry, and Jimmy Richey. Also credited as co-writers are rising bluegrass star Alex Leach and singer songwriter, Logan Ledger. The title track and first single to be released from the album was co-written with Bob Minner and features guest vocalist Del McCoury.

With this impressive lineup of writers and players, does the end product stand up to Lauderdale’s high standard? Not surprisingly, the answer is a resounding ‘yes.’ Without attempting to reinvent the wheel, Lauderdale and the players deliver an album that visits familiar country and bluegrass themes. We hear of love lost on She’s On A Different Train and That Was When We Were Together and on the flip side of the coin, She’s The Light relishes in love gained. That old devil, temptation, is to the fore on I’m Only So Good At Being Good and Darkness The Other Side Of Light and they sign off in fine style with the closer, Drop The Hammer Down.

It's fair to say that Lauderdale has rarely put a foot wrong in his extensive back catalogue and THE LONG and LONESOME LETTING GO is another album that can sit proudly side by side with his previous excursions down the bluegrass trail. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Graham Parker & The Goldtops Last Chance To Learn The Twist Stir

Very much the ‘angry young man’ in the mid to late 70s, Graham Parker’s recent work has found him in a more playful and relaxed mood. That’s not to say that he does not still approach social issues head on but, as the title of his latest album suggests, he has mellowed somewhat since his early recording years.

LAST CHANCE TO LEARN THE TWIST is his second album with his backing band, The Goldtops, following on from 2018’s CLOUD SYMBOLS. A super group of sorts, the band includes Parker’s long-time contributor Martin Belmont on guitar, Simon Edwards on bass, Jim Russell on drums, and Geraint Watkins on keyboards. Parker’s soulful signature sound frequently included a horn section and the Easy Access Orchestra takes the honours here with some smooth playing.

In fine voice and following his trademark template of blending soul, blues, and roots, Parker delivers a healthy thirteen tracks on the album, from the confessional We Did Nothing, a reflection on inactivity surrounding climate change, to the more light-hearted and friskier, The Music Of The Devil. He goes full-on reggae with Them Bugs and the autobiographical Sun Valley is a radio-friendly affair, all the better for dazzling backing vocals from the vocal duo, The Lady Bugs. He reels back the years with Wicked Wit, it’s a horn-filled and ageless delight and the laid-back Last Stretch Of The Road looks back on missed opportunities and mortality.

 It may be forty-seven years since Graham Parker broke into the new wave scene with his debut album, HOWLING WIND, followed in the same year with HEAT TREATMENT, but his latest offering includes quite a number of songs that would slot proudly into either of those collections. Swaddled in warm and rich arrangements, it’s also a reflection of an artist and his players having a really good time.

‘The music of the devil was our salvation,’ Parker confesses on the aforementioned THE MUSIC OF THE DEVIL and this record bears witness to a master craftsman who can still concoct and deliver an intoxicating mix of soulful and catchy tunes.

Review by Declan Culliton

Bobbo Byrnes October Self Release

Recorded over just two days, and using iconic studios located in Berlin (Hansa Studios) and Dublin (Windmill Lane Studios) for inspiration, the very talented Bobbo Byrnes delivers an album of great depth. Over nine songs Byrnes excels on acoustic guitar, mandolin, e-bow and vocals and both the playing and production is clean and creative. A cover version of Bowie’s Heroes is interesting and the strident playing on The Sea is very impressive. The title song October is a lovely instrumental and Too Many Miles shows off his superb guitar playing. You may already be aware of Bobbo  Byrnes as a founding member of one of Orange County’s leading americana rock bands, The Fallen Stars, with his wife Tracey. An excellent album that engages and warms the spirit.

Review by Paul McGee

Rupert Wates Elegie Bite

Yet another example of the flawless music that flows from the expressive guitar and voice of this artist. A resident of New York city for the last sixteen years, Wates was born in London and it’s his roots and influences from traditional English Folk music that are most apparent on this twelfth album release since 2005.

The eleven songs are all written by Wates and his rich vocal is complimented beautifully by his sublime guitar playing. He favours Lowden acoustic guitars and the fluid fingerstyle performance is a real joy throughout thirty-three minutes of sweetly contemplative and soothing songs. Wates is joined by Trifon Dimitrov on double bass for a number of songs and they blend seamlessly together. There is something of the ancient bard in the delivery of these songs, almost reaching back to a time of medieval tales, and the comforting combination of music and voice certainly sets the mind to rest. Song titles like Guinevere and Lady Of the Glades reference the work of English writer Sir Thomas Mallory and the poet John Keats. Elsewhere, there are nods to the inspiration provided by poets such as Tennyson and Coleridge on the songs, Across the Water and The Storm.

However, lest you think that this is all too highbrow, let me assure you that there is a deep soul at the centre of this album, one that reflects upon abiding love on (Like) Sunrise  with the lines ‘And she fills my eyes, And she warms my face, Like sunrise.’ Similarly, the song We’ll Go Dancing reflects upon a love that has grown and matured over time, ‘And though we have changed the rules of the game and little remains of the people we were, What we’ve lost has made us strong.’

There is an old wisdom at play in songs like Winter where Wates reflects, ‘When all is done, Or hearts will be calmer my friend’ and the sense that he is always open to new experiences in the book of life is captured on the song If I Ran To You where he asks ‘If I ran to you would you lead me all the way to your door.’ Another impressive addition to a body of work that bears witness to a talent of real substance.

Review by Paul McGee

Ultan Conlon The Starlight Ballroom Darksideout

There is a great sense of consistency around the release of this new album, Ultan’s fifth in a run that started with the 2009 debut, BLESS YOUR HEART. That debut included a song that featured the legendary John Martyn (Really Gone) and it laid down a marker for a career that has seen him share the stage with great artists, including Edie Reader, Jackson Browne, Shelby Lynne and Patty Griffin, among many others. However, apart from supporting such stars, Ultan Conlon has more than earned the right to stand beside any of these artists that helped to open the door for his creative talents to shine through.

Conlon’s origins are firmly rooted in Galway and his writing style is reflected in the influences that he has taken from growing up in such a rich heritage of musicality. The source of his creativity is woven into the traditions of witty discourse and wry observation of the human condition. There is a strong sense of the knowing contemplation of the human condition in these songs, almost like a barometer on the pressure points of these times.

On songs like the excellent All Sewn Up Conlon channels Roy Orbison in his crystal clear vocal delivery and warm tone. A keen observational talent is shown on Susie Gossip, a song that speaks about visiting a graveyard and one of the headstones that catches the attention. A tribute to his mother, Paradise Lane, captures innocent times and the sense of wonder that lingers in the memory of growing up in a small town environment with bigger dreams. The title track conjures memories of the old ballroom days of Irish society in the 1960s when the joy of community was celebrated in the old dancehalls of the local villages around the country. The reality of compromise is captured on Working For the Man as a mantra to getting by and paying your way ‘ there ain’t no way I’m gonna lay in bed and let my head get the better of me.’

There is great sense of nostalgia on The Old Songs that captures that feeling of  time passing by and the joy of freezing happy memories as a moment in time. Relationship challenges are tackled on the standout song Hurts Like Heaven and the second-guessing that goes with any developing commitment, ‘I go rogue and you stay quiet, We drive that love back deep inside, Where our light can’t shine and our love don’t grow.’ Conlon sings in a clear vocal tone that is very engaging and the production by David Garza is at all times in support of the songs with clear separation on the instruments and creative use of strings, played by Dave Curtis, to augment the melodies.

Rivertown channels feeling of growing up and coming to terms with a sense of the mystery that lies beyond. Perhaps the most enlightening song is The Sunday Blues, which speaks about the worry of being caught up in feelings that have no release ‘ Was it something that I said, I wish I didn’t care for anything, These days I long to forget.’ I guess that we can all live our lives worrying about what others may think. Conlon ends the song with the repeated lines ‘Heaven is a sight for sore eyes and blue skies.’  The final song is Don’t Tell Me That You Love Me, Prove It and it is a slow acoustic look the vagaries of love and the search for contentment.

My album contains no musician credits apart from a list of names that contributed - Charlie Reader, Eddi Reader, John Would, Gemma Wilson, Sebastian Steinberg, Aimee Wood and both David Garza and Ultan Conlon. The playing is beautifully understated throughout and the whole project is a real success. At the end of the day this is music in celebration of the life that we all live; the success and failure, the laughter and the tears. In Ultan Conlon’s world, knowing that he makes a difference is reward enough, and these are fine songs that make a lasting imprint.

Review by Paul McGee

New Album Reviews

The Kody Norris Show Rhinestone Revival Rebel

Jimmy Martin, the exuberant character of earlier bluegrass, is often cited when The Kody Norris Show is being discussed, and his influence on them runs well beyond the fact that the band also hail from East Tennessee. The relatively young ensemble stands out, not just for their spectacular coordinated outfits (credited to Double 8 Custom Apparel, LA) but they equally have the musical chops and stagecraft to rival the best in the business. As this second album also shows, they can write catchy new songs and reinterpret older ones from other genres with ease.

Kody Norris (guitar) himself contributed four of the twelve songs, and any of his songs could well be mistaken for established bluegrass or country numbers. He may well have written Fiddler’s Rock for the sole purpose of creating a showcase for the twin fiddling of his talented wife, Mary Rachel Nalley-Norris and their guest, Jason Barie (Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers)! Barie also contributes fiddle and backing vocals on Kody’s slow burning, broken hearts country song, Please Tell Me Why. On another new original, the catchy Baltimore I’m Leaving, we’re introduced to some inventive and almost funky banjo playing from Josiah Tyree, in a reverse of the usual ‘country boy falls for the big city lights’ affair. Josiah is also a superb vocalist, and he gets his moment on Don Sowards’ instant ear worm, I Call Her Sunshine, as well as contributing backing vocals on most of the tracks. Mary Rachel sings lead, and this time plays mandolin, on Endless Highway (covered by Alison Krauss), and backing vocals here come from none other than the wonderful Brooke Aldridge. Her husband, Darin Aldridge, produced the whole project in The Shop Studio, NC and added mandolin on that track. The true saga of the infamous NC bandit, Otto Wood, a staple of Doc Watson’s set, is given a new treatment here, with Kody taking lead vocals, with bluesy harmonica from another guest, David Johnson.

There’s lots more to enjoy here on one of the best bluegrass releases this year, complete with the usual high standard of artwork and design from Rebel Records

Review by Eilís Boland

Lillie Mae Festival Eyes S||C

Multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter, Lillie Mae is very much a ‘lifer’ in the music industry. Born into a musical family, she began performing with her sisters and brother at the age of three and, by her own admission, will be doing what she does so well most likely for the rest of her life.

Alongside playing residencies and touring with her family band, Lillie’s late teens and early twenties found her touring as part of Jack White’s bands and contributing to his early solo albums. She recorded her debut solo album, RAIN ON THE PIANO in 2015 and followed that with two albums on Jack White’s Third Man Records label, FOREVER and THEN SOME (2017) and OTHER GIRLS (2019), both of which registered impressively in the American Country and Heat charts.

Her latest project, FESTIVAL EYES, was recorded over a couple of days in Dallas. Finding herself and her band in that neck of the woods on the final date of a tour, Lillie hooked up with Dallas-based producer Beau Bedford (The Texas Gentlemen, Orville Peck, Paul Cauthen, Leah Blevins) to oversee the album.

With much of the material written during the pandemic, the recurring theme of togetherness and love is dominant. Titles like Love Is, Safe Place, Please Be With Me and Razor Love all point toward an appreciation for the most important things in life, love, peace of mind, and well-being. The latter song is a gorgeous Neil Young cover (check out the YouTube video of the song) and although not written by Lillie, the lyrics do mirror her lifestyle and mindset (‘Make a livin' like a rolling stone, on the road there’s no place like home’). The song was suggested by Bedford and coincidently Lillie’s mother’s maiden name is Razor, so the selection was a winner on a number of fronts.

The playing throughout, as you would expect from a road-tight band, is exquisite.  Lillie plays acoustic guitar and fiddle, accompanied by her brother Frank Rische (electric and acoustic guitar), husband Craig Smith (electric guitar), and sister Scarlett Rische (mandolin). The non-family members that contributed are Geoffrey Muller and Brian Zonn (bass), Aaron Goodrich (drums, percussion) and producer Beau Bedford (guitar, piano, keys).

What particularly elevates a number of the songs are the harmony vocals between Lillie and Frank. While harmonies have been a regular feature in Lillie’s work, they surpass anything she has previously recorded on the album’s closing track, Love Is.  It’s a sound that recalls the vocal experimentation that dominated The Beach Boys’ PET SOUNDS album and the album’s stand-out track. Cold June looks back on an unusually unseasonable start to the summer of lockdown and the title track, also written during the pandemic, longs for the return of normality (‘Oh, where there’s music, singing, dancing, living up the night and we’re laughing!’). Also impressive is the mid-paced dreamlike ballad, Wild and Free, co-written with Brit Taylor.

A stylistically impressive venture on all fronts, FESTIVAL EYES may not be a radical departure from Lillie Mae’s previous work, but it does include her most intimate and personal writing. 

Review by Declan Culliton

John Surge and The Haymakers Almost Time Blackbird

The debut album from John Surge and The Haymakers was YOUR WONDERFUL LIFE and it was released back in 2019. This time out they decided to try something different and headed to record in Texas and there hooked up with Tommy Detamore to produce this new offering. Surge’s longtime collaborator and guitarist, Randy Volin, joined him for the journey. Recording in a studio in Floresville in Texas over two hard-working days, there they laid down the bones of the ten tracks on the album. It is full of Surge’s love of honky-tonk, cowpunk and country dance music.

They made the most of the location and time by rounding up some top notch talent in bassist Brad Fordham, Tom Lewis on drums and Floyd Domino on piano amongst other instrumentalists, as well as having Brennen Leigh join them on harmony vocals. In the context of country themes, the majority of the songs tell us about relationships falling apart and the lessons not learned from past experiences. 

The album opens with You’re So Right and the message that it “didn’t take that long from ‘I think I love you’ to ‘I think I’m gone’.” It motors along with twang laden guitar and Detamore’s pedal steel and sets the scenario for the remaining tracks. A radio edit of the track also closes the album. Rattle Me is the effect a woman has on the man in question. Next up, Tricks Of The Trade is built around a strong chorus about those tricks being something of a series of heartbreaking tricks. Volin adds tight guitar solo to bolster things up.

Reflection is the key to the next song I Should Have Known, a dejected ballad with Domino’s piano effective in it’s tone. That contrasts with the more edgy tone of being crushed in Lesson I Never Learned. The title track has a solid groove and a solid back beat that is satisfying. Harmonica opens the riff based Big Train, a song previously recorded by a band who were a big favourite of yours truly on my early forays into cowpunk - that was Rank And File. Surge’s version adds the guest vocal of that band’s Chips Kinman to give a further seal of authenticity. All You Gotta Do has a strong classic country feel with fiddle, acoustic lead and vocal harmony giving it an additional push in the right direction - as it offers advice to the lovelorn. We go back to quieter pastures with the ballad of Sister Honeybee. It describes some of the good things that life has to offer.

Surge has made an album that fits like a pair of well worn jeans and feels the right side of retro country but also has an eye to the future and perfects his own personal vision of the music that came from the likes of the Palomino Club in its heyday in L.A. Seems like it’s almost time to listen again and make some hay in its audio sunshine.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Broken Radio Dirty Country Hausmusik

An album for those who like a bit of gravel and grit in their gothic country. DIRTY COUNTRY is the latest album from Klaus Patzak, a German musician, who spent a fair bit of time plying his trade in Austin, but hails from Landsberg. It was the town where Johnny Cash was once stationed when in the army. It must have left its mark, in some form or other, on Patzak. His music is rooted in that earlier time and the influences he heard on forces radio growing up. Those tales of songs rooted in folk, rock and country form the basis of the deep mix of music he makes now.

However it is the depth and suggested darkness of his voice that sets the scene for the songs here, all written and produced under the name of Broken Radio. This is not the music that is streamed or featured on unbroken mainstream country radio. There are the textures and effective use of late night desert twang, fiddle, pedal steel, trumpet, organ and electronics. All in all, a highly effective sonic landscape that also adds the impressive vocal contributions of Lois Walsh and Teodora Gosheva. They often evoke the classic country duets of icons of the genre in the past. From the album credits, it’s not exactly clear how many of these instruments he himself played but it would seem likely he handled the bulk, if not all, himself. Making it even more praiseworthy an effort and endeavour that was recorded back in his own studio on his own time.

But don’t think that there is nothing here that has the attractiveness of a left-field hit, for example Sweetheart Honey Baby could easily find its way onto any open-minded radio show. The vocal interaction is indeed captivating. Solitary Morning evokes its title with a guitar and steel and a more wearied but wistful tale of early morning travel. Travel is again the theme of Patzak falling for the titular Tow Truck Driving Lady when his vintage car decides to quit. But in truth there is a lot of diversification throughout, without swerving too far from its chosen highway. It shows that Broken Radio have grasped the mettle of effectively channelling a particular strain of virulent off-kilter country music.

This is the sixth release from Broken Radio and is packaged as you might expect from someone who has paid attention to detail throughout. It is recommended, if this review in any way whets your appetite and curiosity, that you visit www.brokenradio.de to see the videos that have been created for many of the songs featured here; as well as the covers of the albums and singles that have a nod to a world vision set back a few decades ago. The modes of transport and the references to place all point to Patzak being a student of those lost highways and often unforgiving landscapes. 

This is my first acquaintance with Broken Radio and it is a welcome one. Perhaps, not everyone will enjoy its essence, but for those that do it offers a set of frequently tantalising tunes that can be heard broadcasting from this broken but far from unplayable radio. 

Review by Stephen Rapid

Ryan Curtis Ain’t Ever Easy American Standard Times 

For album number two, Ryan Curtis has taken his “alt-country from the high country” sound in the direction of a tougher, rockier sound (with equal measures of blues and southern overtones). He is another exponent of the gravel-gargling vocal delivery which suits his tales of those who exist on the margins and in the backwaters of middle and small town America, in other words real life characters who inhabit these songs with doubt and hope in equal measure.

Can’t Take Back is the opening song and it has a groove over its firm backbeat and guitar and Wurlitzer laden looseness as he tells that his woman, in time honoured blues fashion, ain’t never coming back. The album then moves to a more alt country tone that reminds one of the days when alt-country was a viable sub genre. Codependent Heart is built around a guitar riff that draws you in and then expands to a final segment where the guitar lets loose. There is more introspection on Wasted Energy, wherein he decides to put that to better use and to find peace (and love) in his life. It is more reflective, as suits its title and mood.

It was this song that made me think that fans of the early releases from Ryan Bingham could find themselves with a new singer/songwriter to admire and absorb. That overall connection resurfaces over the next few tracks, for example in the country rock forcefulness of Drunk Tank and the realisation that this is not a place you want to wake up in. Adherents of Drive by Truckers sound will see a similarity here too. This Town and I Love This City offer perspectives on hard lovin’ and livin’ in locations that make it difficult to do both with any success, and lead instead to that other perennial pastime, that of drinkin’ to forget. The former is another song that hits the spot and adds to the underlying and overarching honky tonk country feel, while there is another juxtaposition with Cactus And Cocaine. It has an almost sing-along feel without ever quite getting to that point and again benefits from some emotive and twangy guitar, as he draws those two C’s into the one song. Chris Stapleton’s Good Corn Liquor moves from its initial bluegrass rendition by the Steeldrivers to something closer to Stapleton’s current modus operandi.

There is a different atmosphere to the approach of the closing track,Through The Tears, with a spoken vocal that goes in further towards raspy and uses steel guitar, vocals and more to create a descriptive sonic landscape that has the sought after cinematic outcome. It comes as an interesting finish to some of the more rough-hewn elements of the preceding tracks and allows Ryan to explore the different nuances of his music.

The album was recorded  at the famed OK theatre in Oregon, though Michigan born Ryan is now based in Boise, Idaho. He worked with engineer Bart Budwig and musicians Cooper Trail, Nevada Sowle and Tyler McFarlane and other guests including guitarist Rider Soran, all of whom have their own separate music careers, as did Ryan as a member of the more soul orientated rock band, The Weary Times.

Having gone through the rigours of lockdown which underlined the album’s title, he has emerged with an album he can be proud of and one that should find many adherents.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Hiss Golden Messenger Jump For Joy Merge

M.C. Taylor performs as Hiss Golden Messenger and, looking back over his career, says that he has lived “an outlaw life, but one that makes me happy.” For those who have followed his journey over the last sixteen years, you will know that Taylor has always worked on the fringes of what is considered mainstream, while creating music of insightful depth and country soul. He has been on a quest to discover his truth, regularly seeking to find answers to internal questions that have driven his creative muse. Now, after many albums, endless gigs and hotel rooms, airports and road trips, his current perspective comes down to “If we’re standing at some finish line of human civilisation… then I want to go out dancing.” The performance name itself is something of a contradiction in that “Hiss” conjures up a negative image and a sense of disapproval, whereas “Golden Messenger” brings the image of a heavenly visitor from on high. In a way it’s this dichotomy that perfectly captures the true essence of M.C. Taylor and his musical vision. Almost like he’s saying ‘don’t ask me for answers, I’m just looking myself and making the best of things as we go along.’

This new album was recorded at Sonic Ranch, Tornillo, Texas, by Scott Hirsch, with assistance from Mario Ramirez and it takes a new direction with upbeat rhythmic arrangements which capture plenty of joy in the playing. It also shines brightly in terms of the creative spirit that Taylor always brings to his projects. His sound is nothing if not soulful at it’s core, the music effortlessly gliding along on the impressive playing of his regular band mates, Nick Falk (drums), Alex Bingham (bass), Chris Boerner (guitars) and Sam Fribush (keyboards). They blend together so seamlessly and are a perfect example of the maxim that “the whole is better than the sum of its parts.”

We are given a jazzy New Orleans shuffle on the title song Jump For Joy and this is balanced against the sweet funky sound on Shinbone which sees Taylor talk about ‘Taking chances, If you lose it all, Can you love what’s left?’ There is an easy, gentle flow on Jesus Is Bored with a more reflective plea, ‘Please give me something to lift me up out of this darkness, Something to light my way,’ really hitting the key question on the head; is there anybody listening? Another song, the almost-Reggae groove of California King considers ‘Some prophets sing about bad things to all their Sunday sinners, They set their nets out on the shore, Try to catch the lonely surfers.’

However, it all really comes down to the message of community, as captured on the understated acoustic rhythm of My Old Friends, a song from the heart and expressing ‘But my old friends don’t mind my transgressions, May I forgive them the way I’ve been forgiven.’ It confirms that true friendship is ‘something to believe in’ and immediately we are at the essence of the album, feel the joy in what tomorrow offers and embrace the moment. For this project, Taylor decided to look back on his life journey through the alter-ego of Michael Crow, an alias that channels his memories of younger days. Songs such as 20 Years and a Nickel look at his attempts to write a successful song, ‘I am waiting, Trying to write my masterpiece… There’s no such thing as a simple song, I’m convinced of it, I should know.’ Then there is I Saw the New Day In the World with its addictive groove and optimism, while on Nu-Grape we have another soulful rhythm and the superb backing vocals of Aoife O’Donovan and Amy Helm; the lines ‘I’m just a nail in the house of the universe’ capturing the sense of wonder at all the big questions. Indeed, it is the song titled The Wondering that sums it all up with a lovely bass groove and warm keys wrapping the melody against lines such as ‘Strung out beneath the hot summer clouds, I know a place to go swimming, A place where I can be myself, When the world around me is too much.’ Yet another cracker from the pen of M.C. Taylor and an album to cherish.

Review by Paul McGee

Luluc Diamonds Community

This duo are Zoë Randell and Steve Hassett, an Australian couple who began creating music together back in 2008. This new release is the fifth album in their catalogue of what can be described as Indie Folk, with beautiful vocals and pastoral soundscapes in the sweet melodies that form an integral part of their sound. Dream-Folk is a label that has been popular of late in trying to describe a blissed-out approach to recording, with use of reverb, understated vocals and lo-fi atmospherics.

If you enjoy a sense of drifting away in your musical tastes then this is the album for you. From the opening title track Diamonds, which recounts a drive towards San Antone in Texas and learning an old Doug Sahm song, the music takes on a sense of calm. The following track Snow muses upon feelings of loneliness and missing someone with a slow drum and bass rhythm supporting a nice guitar melody that plays in the pocket. Come On Spring has a nice bounce to it and you can feel the changing seasons as Randell sings of ‘Sweet relief from everything.’

There is a wistful elegance to Moonbeam with haunting cello and pristine acoustic guitar in the mix. The use of string arrangements enhances an already beautiful song, reminiscent of Mazzy Star. The Shore uses restrained brass instrumentation and a resonant bass-line on a song that captures a longing for natural elements and a deeper love. Hooked begins with just a strummed acoustic guitar and simple bass that support the winsome vocal of Randell as she sings of ‘all the wasted chances’ and the futility of self-sacrifice in a relationship.

Sleepyhead is positively upbeat with a nice rhythm that delivers a message of love and understanding in the habits of another. There is a sad quality on Evermore with cello echoing a dream-like sense of love being perhaps a suffocating feeling. A cover of the Rolling Stones As Tears Go By is delivered in soft-focus charm but misses out on the sad distance that was explored in the Marianne Faithful interpretation of the same song. Matters conclude with a lovely song The Sky and reflections on the power of nature to deliver real awe-inspiring vistas ‘ The sun kissed the sky goodnight… give it up, give it over, that weight on your shoulder.’ A very impressive album that will delight many who look for their succour in weightless, subtle melody and ethereal vocals.

Review by Paul McGee

Paul J Bolger Beware Of Trains Pillar Stone

This interesting artist has been releasing music sporadically since the 1990s. He also has a strong interest in art and design, cartoon animation and film production, and all forms of self-expression. Originally from Waterford in Ireland, Bolger has travelled in both America and Canada and this latest album was recorded in Nashville with renowned guitarist/producer Steve Dawson at Henhouse Studios. Also featured are the talents of David Jacques on upright and electric bass (John Prine, Emmylou Harris), drummer/percussionist Jamie Dick (Rhiannon Giddens, Pam Tillis, Alison Russell) and vocalist Siobhán Maher-Kennedy (River City People, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams). Other musicians feature on the eight tracks, including Hugh Christopher Brown, Alex Soikans, Colin Shanahan and Sarah McDermott.

If you count the 1993 release of The Moss House, then this album represents the fourth full release, following on from PJB (20200), and HARD TRUTH (2022). Throw in a couple of Eps along the way and you have plenty to entertain in the back catalogue. There is much to delight on this new album and the songs are all very well written, atmospheric in the delivery and full of personality. The quality of musicianship is a big advantage of course and Bolger can more than hold his own on acoustic guitar and lead vocals. The co-vocal with Siobhan Maher-Kennedy on Breathless is a real stand-out song, as is the spoken word delivery on Dance Where You Stand. The pedal steel of Steve Dawson and the keys of Hugh Christopher Brown really lift the latter arrangement. Heather Road is a funky workout that channels a loosely-tight groove, while Watering Hole has a dynamic blues feel, all smoky laid-back playing and slow-burn delivery. The bounce of What We Did Wrong is certainly a feelgood track and features a nice rhythmic groove that channels Buddy Holly. Eight songs in all, and an album that ticks any boxes.

Review by Paul McGee

Michael Conor Murphy Where To Now? Self Release

Wexford based, Irish songwriter,  Michael Conor Murphy, delivers thirteen songs on this album and the overarching sense is one of taking chances and making your own luck in life. Looking for a sure thing never really works out and sometimes you just have to take a shot. Otherwise, it can all boil down to time passing, chances gone by with missed opportunity. This is a follow-up release to Michael’s debut album, Ain't Asking for Nothing, which was released earlier this year.

Writing On the Wall tells of a doomed relationship ‘what did you expect, watching our slow trainwreck.’ There are portents of doom on Deep Black Water and sleeping with the Devil’s daughter can only lead to trouble. The song We Stopped channels the memory of the pandemic and the world on hold, while the message in Where To Now? is one of looking for redemption and trying to make sense of the times ‘Every year seems to put another furrow in my brow, Oh… where to now?’ There is some fine fiddle and bouzouki to enjoy on Summer Sent You and the up-tempo beat of Got My Boots On is the most rock orientated track on display here.

Hammers and Nails looks at the life of a handyman builder and the practical ways that love may find a home. There is some fine percussion, keyboard and bass lines running through the song arrangement, and something of a highlight on the album, ‘Want something fixed honey, you just have to ask, I’m a handy lover-man to have around your place.’ Small Mercies is another strong song with harmonica and sweet guitar reflecting the need to count our blessings and practice acceptance.

The album was recorded at Accipiter Nisus Studios in Piercestown, Co. Wexford and it was produced by Mick Egan, who also contributes keyboards, guitars and percussion. Other players are Richard Lee (drums), James O’Reilly (fiddle), Alice McIntyre (fiddle) and Ian Barry (bouzouki, vocals). Murphy plays guitar and harmonica, in addition to taking all lead vocals. He is also backed by local talent Imelda Keogh on vocals, and she has released some excellent music in recent years, including songs written by Michael himself. This is a worthwhile album, well performed and containing differing styles to suit all musical tastes. Contemporary and marketable.

Review by Paul McGee

The Kody Norris Show, Lillie Mae, John Surge and the Haymakers, Broken Radio, Ryan Curtis, Hiss Golden Messenger, Luluc, Paul J Bolger

New Album Reviews

Greenshine New Moon On Friday Tigerdog

Noel Shine and Mary Greene have been creating great music in their base in West Cork for quite a while, both emerging from families in Counties Clare and Waterford, respectively, who were steeped in Irish traditional and folk music, and American country, roots and folk. Thankfully, being dragged to festivals all over Ireland as a child didn’t put off their daughter, Ellie Shine, who has joined them in recent years and the trio have produced another enchanting album. Their influences are obvious, but they have developed their very own distinctive folk/Americana sound, evident on this collection of eight originals and four cover songs, all recorded in their home studio.

Mary has honed her craft as an impressive songwriter over the years and has written or cowritten all except one of the original songs here. There’s an unhurried, reassuring, ambiance emanating from the recording that is hard to resist.

Big Black Bag speaks to anyone who lies awake at night worrying - over the jazz influenced musical backdrop of dobro, electric guitar and bass, Mary’s soothing lyrics encouraging the afflicted (and who among us hasn’t been through this at some time in life?) to tie that worry up in the metaphorical big black bin bag ‘and throw it out!’. She also takes the lead vocals on the gentle love song, Bend like A Willow, and the old adage that ‘if you love them, set them free’ is her message on the title track, New Moon On Friday. As well as being the lead songwriter in the band,  Mary also plays guitars, keys and concertina, while her husband Noel is even more versatile, contributing guitars, bass, mandolin, bouzouki, whistle, Theramin, keys, banjo and harmonica. He takes the lead vocal on a cover of Springsteen’s The Mansion On The Hill, bestowing on it a very Irish feel, with his natural Irish accent and a combination of tin whistle, mandolin and pedal steel that really works, though it shouldn’t.

Ellie has a very distinctive and attractive vocal tone, with much depth but also a quiver, and she harmonises to great effect with her mother on many of the tracks. However, it is on their outstanding version of Jimmy Webb’s classic Wichita Lineman that Ellie really comes into her own.  Accompanying herself on ukulele, and with delicious pedal steel from guest David Murphy, subtle percussion from drummer Martin Leahy, and backing vocals from Mary, this version is truly sublime. And I have it on good authority that Jimmy Webb approves. The other standout song for this reviewer is Mary’s Charmed Life, wherein she inhabits the thoughts of a ghost who roams nocturnally forever after a life full of regret, the haunted gothic atmosphere suggested by Noel’s eerie whistle, acoustic guitar and mandolin, and their own ‘Birds of the Garden’ who herald the dawn, and the retreat of the ill-fated tortured soul.

Review by Eilís Boland

Paul Cowley Stroll Out West Self Release

Most surprisingly, considering his current mastery of acoustic country blues as evidenced here, Birmingham’s Paul Cowley was a latecomer to the genre, only discovering this style of music when he reached his 40’s. Clearly influenced by the likes of Lightning Hopkins, Mississippi Fred McDowell and Blind Willie McTell, Cowley’s fifth album features seven new original songs, as well as five covers.

It’s refreshing to hear a blues album where the playing is in service of the song, and well written songs at that, without the all too common clichéd subject matter and lyrics. Here, Paul Cowley shows himself to be a superb steel guitar and slide player, who thankfully doesn’t feel the need to show off. He expresses his life philosophy in songs like Whatever It Takes and World Gone Crazy, most of which are taken at a gentle walking pace. The latter is a right-up-to-date, seven minute long, plea to all of humanity to wake up to the plight of our world, where we all just ‘take, take, take’, but now ‘we need to come together/east or west/we’re all facing our biggest test’. Amen to that. Cover songs include his interpretation of Robert Johnson’s Preachin’ Blues, and a laidback and sensitive rendition of the much covered Staggerlee, mainly influenced by Mississippi John Hurt’s version. The standout cover, most unexpected, is a very different interpretation of Smokey Robinson’s classic, Tracks Of My Tears, into which Cowley breathes new life, taking it at a much slower pace and with a simple acoustic guitar accompaniment, with complementary and subtle drums, bass & electric guitar added by Pascal Ferrari.

Recorded in Cowley’s home studio in a stone barn in rural Brittany, France, the album was self produced, along with his longtime collaborator Ferrari, who also contributes bass, drums and electric guitar on some tracks. Stand out song for this reviewer is Life Is Short, an exhortation to make the most of one’s time here on earth, written in the aftermath of the passing of his father two years ago, and accompanied by simply beautiful, finger picked acoustic guitar. ‘Pass you by/Blink of an eye/And leave you wonderin’ how and why’, so you have to ‘jump right in … don’t hesitate’. I second that.

Review by Eilís Boland

Larry Sparks It’s Just Me Rebel

At 75 years of age and with his track record in music, Larry Sparks has nothing left to prove. Playing bluegrass since he was 15, joining Ralph Stanley as a Clinch Mountain Boy after Carter died tragically in 1966, going on to form his own band, The Lonesome Ramblers, and winning several IBMA awards for both his singing and his guitar playing, he has finally answered his fans requests by recording a stripped back solo album.

Still armed with his faithful 1954 Martin D28 (that he actually bought in 1967- strictly of interest to the guitar nerds!), this is a delightful collection of classic country and contemporary bluegrass songs. Kicking off with Marshal Warwick’s lonesome country ballad Long Way To Denver, it’s obvious from the start that though his voice is inevitably a little careworn, he still can imbue these songs with emotion born of sincerity. His guitar playing is also still impressive - a ‘less is more’ approach works perfectly here, allowing the songs to speak for themselves. Don’t Neglect The Rose and Great High Mountain (a gospel song written by Keith Whitley) were previously recorded by Sparks on full band albums, but they also work very well here. Harking back to earlier and simpler times is a predominant theme of the project, none more so than on the quite moving Lefty Frizzell number, Mom and Dad’s Waltz. Sweetheart is another deceptively simple country love song, but this time written specifically for Larry Sparks by a young up-and-coming Nashville-based songwriter called Wyatt McCubbin. The classic George Jones number, She Thinks I Still Care, is given a welcome outing, while another Marshal Warwick composition, Bring ‘Em On Back, is again a wistful wish for a return to earlier eras, ‘that ole stage down at The Ryman/how that stage went clacketty clack’. Closing with a recent Daniel Crabtree gospel song, we are reminded that his Christian faith continues to sustain Sparks. Self produced in his home studio, Larry is accompanied on some of the tracks by his son, Larry D, on upright bass.

Mention must also be made of the outstanding photographs and album design, yet again, by the longstanding Rebel Records label - a few of the current bluegrass labels could do with taking a leaf from their book.

My only complaint is that, at ten songs and 29 minutes, this album is too short!

Review by Eilís Boland

The Handsome Family Hollow Loose

A new album from the duo (and friends) is always a welcome event for long-time fans. So what’s changed this time out? Well, superficially not a lot in truth, in terms of the overall methodology. Yet there is a sophistication in the recording process that allows Brett to explore the sonics of their particular soundscape. It still sounds like the unique output we have come to know and love. Rennie’s still writing lyrics that only she could, while Brett brings his baritone voice and melodic arrangements into focus. There is, however, a noticeable sense of ease and an embracement of a certain mellowness within the music, that comes with age.

Brett, again, takes the helm handling the lead vocals in his, by now, distinctive baritone delivery, as well as recording and playing the bulk of the instruments featured. They are again joined by touring companions Alex McMahon on guitar and steel and Jason Toth on percussion. Both make valuable contributions to the overall fabric of the album, while Dave Gutierrez plays mandolin on The Oldest Water. Rennie adds vocal and banjo in the required places. 

The album opens with Joseph, a song that takes its title and chorus line “Come into the circle, Joseph! There’s no moon tonight” from something that Rennie screamed in her sleep one night. It may have been pretty startling at the time, but Brett thought that is was a good line, so they decided to use it as the lynchpin of the song. I can think of few acts that could make that origin story so fitting but it is, though, symptomatic of their working (asleep or awake) process. The song itself has a more dreamlike quality with an overdriven guitar sound, piano and drums adding to this sense, the latter grounding the songs to an earthly base. Two Black Shows is next up and it takes in the sometimes disturbing vision of their divided post pandemic country and the sense that nature may well be waiting to take over those often people-less locations. The keyboards are upfront for the start ofThe King Of Everything, a song that repeats its title effectively, then the guitar makes its presence over Toth’s percussion which provides a solid rhythm platform. It epitomises how, while using to their usual template, they continue to process and develop it.

“Squirrels in the basement / raccoons in the walls / centipedes with stingers” are lines that again hint at the way the natural world is re-staking its claim on civilisation, in the track Skunks. There is an earthy (or perhaps liquid) sound on the The Oldest Water, wherein the mandolin hints at an earlier folk tradition of storytelling. There is an esoteric link to the oddness of Mothballs and it is another example of Rennie’s instinctive and individual lyrical vision. It has, perhaps, a hint of Tom Waits in its voice and piano setting.

Very different in its arrangement is Shady Lake, a gentle evocation of a idyllic location. The guitars are cranked up, well in the context of this title at least, for To The Oaks. There is a ballad-like delivery for Strawberry Moon, with wistful keyboards and guitar. The next track is another highlight, with steel guitar and pleasing harmony vocals. Invisible Man reminds me of earlier albums, in some ways, and it is striking with its mid-song narration and uplifting feel. The closing track is Good Night, where again the steel is prominent over the solid drumbeat and some effective xylophone embellishments. While it is a soothing it has also something of a menacing quality, as it not only embraces a good night but also reminds that it is a time for skinwalkers, time for Santa to sharpen his claws. Sleep then peacefully, but leave one eye open. It is the duo’s openness to both light and dark that gives them room to manoeuvre, to entertain and to remind us of how far they have come and how to continue to mine a rich seam of uniqueness. There is nothing hollow about their music, but they have also created a hollow that allows us to crawl through into their world.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Zach Aaron This Lovely War Self Release

Cleveland, Texas, resident Zach Aaron’s songwriting is very much in the style of the classic singer songwriters from the Lone Star State. My first awakening to his music was his 2020 and third album, FILL DIRT WANTED, and he continues down a similar path with THIS LOVELY WAR, combining tales of tragedy, hopelessness and misfortune, often tinged with a slice of dry humour on the side. Dividing his time between his music career and a side project as a rodeo rider, Aaron’s observational skills are very much to the fore in his writing.

He kicks off proceedings with May The Iron Horse get Fed. A co-write with Kayla Ray - an excellent singer songwriter in her own right whose record, YESTERDAY AND ME, was my album of the year in 2018 - they target the steady demise of the railway network as a metaphor for the slowly declining simpler times of yesteryear and the increasing advancement of fake news.

There are barroom blues and much regret in FALL DOWN DRUNK (‘Jesus is gonna save me, if I could only get him on the phone’) and Songbird. The former brings to mind the work of Hayes Carll, while the latter is a weepy two-stepper all the more atmospheric for some doleful pedal steel. Aaron’s rodeo exploits no doubt pointed him in the direction of the Marty Robbins tale of an unlikely rider in Cowboy In A Continental Suit. He puts his foot firmly of the gas pedal and turns the heat up with Truth Is A Mirror. It’s not all whiskey and road dust either, as he opens up his heart on the tender love song, It’s You.

He closes the eight-track album with the semi-spoken Latigo Joe. It tells the tale of a roughneck convict cowboy serving life in prison, who perishes while on temporary freedom riding in a prison inmates rodeo show. Recounted in semi-spoken style, it brings to mind the classic Guy Clark song, Let Him Roll.

There are an increasing number of songwriters gaining inspiration from the Western and cowboy lifestyle of both yesteryear and today, Canadian Colter Wall being the most commercially successful. Others, less well known, like Andy Hedges and Chris Guenther, have recently released quality similarly themed albums. Although already four albums into his career, I’m adding Zach Aaron to that list of writers and performers, impressively embracing and saluting the rural American life of earlier times.

Review by Declan Cullion

Erin Rae Lighten Up & Try: Live From The Heart Thirty Tigers

Lonesome Highway’s introduction to the world of Erin Rae dates back to 2015 when she performed as a backing vocalist at Americana Fest in Nashville. We’ve followed her career closely since then, marvelling at her solo albums, SOON ENOUGH (2015), PUTTING ON AIRS (2018) and LIGHTEN UP (2022). We’ve also enjoyed her headline shows in Nashville and Germany and her performances as a backing vocalist for artists like Margo Price and Courtney Marie Andrews.

Erin’s latest recording is an altogether novel affair. The live songs on the album were recorded in the summer of 2022, after she and her band had completed a six-week tour opening for Lord Huron. They were recorded by Erin’s mother, Christie Bates, on a 1990s Panasonic cassette recorder that Erin’s dad had previously used to tape rough demos of his music. The result is a live recording in the true sense, with song introductions, background noises, and audience chatter, all left untampered. What rings true is Erin’s beautiful vocals and her road-hardened band. Featured are the majority of the songs from her then-most recent album, LIGHTEN UP, alongside a number of songs from PUTTING ON AIRS. Also included in the set is As We Go Along, from Erin’s 2019 EP LAGNIAPPE SESSION.

Particular highlights, among many, are Putting On Airs, Cosmic Sigh, Candy and Curry, which opened the set, and Bad Mind. The latter is introduced by Erin as a song about growing up in the South, surrounded by inequity and bias (‘Maybe it was just the South or the influence of my brothers, or the harsh words I heard the others throw around’).

In an era of often overproduced and gadget-enhanced playing and vocalising, this simple recording, blips and all, captures in every respect the true allure of live music, and the satisfaction and enjoyment that the live setting offers to both artists and audience alike. It’s also a reminder of why, alongside her own notable recordings, Erin Rae is in such demand as a backing vocalist both in the studio, and in the live setting.

Review by Declan Cullion

Nathan Mongol Wells From A Dark Corner State Fair

Texan Nathan Mongol Wells is the frontman of Ottoman Turks, alongside Billy Law, Paul Hinojo and Joshua Ray Walker. The latter is credited as co-producer alongside John Pedigo on FROM A DARK CORNER, Wells’ debut solo record. If getting issues off his chest, and in particular matters of the heart, was the driving force behind Wells’ solo writing, he has nailed it with these ten tracks.

An inkling of what lies in the writer’s head emerges on Taken For A Ride (‘I’m a coward, I’m a loser, I’m a serial abuser, of the thoughts and of the feelings that you try so hard to hide’) and In Years (‘We set out with it all intact, a frayed knot here and there. No knowledge of the things we lacked, each challenge like a dare’). Both are memorable efforts, drenched in pedal steel courtesy of Hank Early, alongside Wells’ broody vocals. The same disintegrating relationship raises its head on Two Heads (‘You know we’re at our best when we’re sleeping together. It’s when we awake that our problems arise’) though things do take a more light-hearted direction on the drinking (lots), Honest Drinking, and working (little), Rather Go To Hell. Echoes of John Prine surface on the acoustic album closer First Day It’s Warm, which welcomes the end of winter in Texas.

Whether FROM A DARK CORNER represents the onset of a solo career by Wells in parallel with his commitments with Ottoman Turks remains to be seen. Either way, this is a no-holds-barred album, combining country and punk sensibilities, by an artist quite prepared to lay bare his own vulnerabilities. All in all, it’s a stylistically impressive venture and well worth your investigation.

Review by Declan Culliton

Maia Sharp Reckless Thoughts Self Release

“I always want to write in a way where people will plug their own lives into the song,” says Nashville-based singer-songwriter Maia Sharp in the press release that accompanied this, her ninth, solo album.

That quality in Sharp’s writing over the past two decades is evidenced by the number of household names that have raided her treasure chest to record her songs. The Chicks, Terri Clark, Cher, Bonnie Raitt, Trisha Yearwood, and Art Garfunkel are just a snapshot of artists that have recorded Sharp’s songs.

In general, Sharp’s albums have often opened the door to reveal her personal thoughts and emotions. If her last album, 2021’s MERCY RISING, reflected on the break up of her marriage and leaving California for Nashville, this latest record plays out like an update of her present state of mind. Sharp admits that this collection of songs was challenging to write, given that she was not working her way through emotional upheaval, but the end result is every bit as satisfying and thought-provoking as any of her previous albums.

A sense of letting go of the past and taking charge unfolds in a number of songs. The bouncy opener, She’ll Let Herself Out, sets that stall out from the get-go and the mid-tempo Old Dreams, co-written with Garrison Starr, follows a similar approach of exorcising unattainable aspirations. That sense of being yourself and not attempting to live vicariously in someone else’s skin is at large in Fallen Angel. Whereas the majority of the songs live in the present, Sharp does acknowledge happier past times in California but the track that captures her present frame of mind and her wishes is Kind. A co-write with Mindy Smith and Dean Fields, it’s very much a song of its time with a simple message promoting empathy and understanding.

RECKLESS THOUGHTS will be very much on the radar of Maia Sharp’s dedicated followers, but if she’s a new name to you and you’re a lover of classic singer songwriters, you’ll lap this up.

Review by Declan Culliton

Jim Ghedi and Toby Hay Self-Titled Topic

The old traditions of English Folk are alive and well in the wonderful music created by this duo. This is their second collaborative record, following on from The Hawksworth Grove Sessions - Duets for 6 & 12 String Guitar, released in 2018. The sound created on this new release captures both space and time in restrained emotion, without a word spoken, and the results leave the listener entranced.

With Ghedi on 6-string and Hay on 12-string guitars, their combined artistry is just a joy and is reminiscent of Ghedi’s previous work, often instrumental, that explores the natural world and our relationship to it. He released A Hymn For Ancient Land (2018) and In The Furrows Of Common Place (2022) to great acclaim. Both musicians are custodians of the Folk music flame and stand beside the likes of John Martyn, Richard Thompson and Martin Simpson as masters of their craft.

The twelve tracks here are all inspired by different sources, from the poetry of Seamus Heaney to Irish harp tunes and traditional Welsh lullabies. The interplay between the two musicians is quite breathtaking and the music is always engaging, moving and magical in the delivery. Song titles such as With The Morning Hills Behind You, A Year And A Day, When The Blackthorn Blooms, Moss Flower, Bog Cotton Jig and Seasoned By The Storm, give some insight into a sense of the natural world in quiet repose.   

The production is crystal clear and recording took place last year in Giant Wafer Studios in rural mid Wales. The album was recorded live over three days and contains no edits or overdubs, just the two musicians in deep connection and complimenting each other on guitars across these timeless instrumental tunes. This is a must purchase album for anyone who respects the deep traditions of Folk music and the Roots tradition.    

Review by Paul McGee

Greenshine, Paul Cowley, Larry Sparks, The Handsome Family, Zach Aaron, Erin Rae, Nathan Mongol Wells, Maia Sharp, Jim Ghedi and Toby Hay

New Album Reviews

Joshua Ray Walker What Is It Even? Soundly

Texan Joshua Ray Walker has been busy since the release of his debut album, WISH YOU WERE HERE in 2019. Since then, he has recorded two more albums, returned to his busy touring schedule after the easing of Covid-related restrictions, and has tailed off those hectic four years with his latest and fourth full album, WHAT IS IT EVEN?

Those first three albums featured a host of unfortunate characters, some probably autobiographical, who frequented the type of honky tonks that Walker regularly played in, but he has taken an entirely different path with this recording. Digging deeply into his memory bank, he chose eleven of his favourite songs recorded by female artists, many of which he kept true to the original versions and others he rearranged.

Given his honky tonk credentials you might expect that he’d tackle some of the classic country recordings from the likes of Dolly, Loretta, or Patsy, but in reality, his selections couldn’t be further away from those artists. Instead, he tackles songs performed by The Cranberries, Sinead O’Connor, Cher, Q Lazarus, Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, and others.

The result is a mixed bag. Walker is in fine voice throughout but with some of the choices, mainly pop songs, remaining faithful to the originals (Linger, Nothing Compares To You, Coz I Love You), the results are somewhat uninspiring.

The renditions work best when Walker restructures the original songs. Sia’s Cheap Thrills is a point in case where he reinvents the pop song into a countrified and upbeat arrangement. Equally impressive is his bluegrass-themed adaptation of Beyoncé’s Halo. Lazzarus’ Goodbye Horses is less impressive, but his take on Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody is arguably an improvement on the overproduced original.

‘I just wanted to make something that was fun,” Walker says. He no doubt achieved this but I’m wondering how his fan base will react to the album. Walker is a hugely talented singer, songwriter and musician and I look forward to future recordings of the standard of his first three albums, when he, hopefully returns to what he excels at.

Review by Declan Culliton

Kyle Nix & the 38’s After The Flood Vol.1 Self Release

With Turnpike Troubadours’ career path on pause due to frontman Even Felker’s marital and rehab issues, their fiddle player, Kyle Nix, launched his solo career in 2020 with his debut album, LIGHTNING ON THE MOUNTAIN.  Stellar country and roots music has often followed in the aftermath of hardship and breakups and AFTER THE FLOOD VOL.1, Nix’s second album, follows that well-worn path. His own trauma of a divorce and rehab was the catalyst for this recording. Nix dusted himself down, called on some close friends and fine players’ services, and has produced a cracking and full-on album. Those players are former American Aquarium bassist Bill Corbin, multi-instrumentalist Kevin ‘Haystack’ Foster, singer songwriter Ken Pomeroy and Nix’s fellow Turnpike Troubadours percussionist, Gabe Pearson. The production was carried out by Wes Sharon, who also previously worked on Turnpike Troubadours recordings.

The anger and rawness of Nix’s harrowing times are at the forefront of songs that contain honesty and hurt in large doses. ‘Is it too much to ask for a little slice of peace, it’s all over now so let it be,’ Nix spits out on the animated Hell & Half of Georgia. He’s equally scathing on Close The Bets (‘Close the bets, divvy up the change, she’ll get the money, I’ll get the blame’). Slightly less vitriolic but also finger-pointing is The Byrds sounding Poor Boy’s Heart and the album closes with the somewhat introspective and conciliatory Summer Plains. Other tracks of note are Nothin’ You Can Do that has Ken Pomeroy taking the lead vocal and the mid-tempo honky tonker, One More Thing.

It may be a case of ‘back to the day job’ for Nix now, with Turnpike Troubadours returning to performing and recording, but the short-lived hiatus of the band and his personal issues gave Nix the ammunition and opportunity to write and record a confessional and hugely impressive suite of songs. He has come through with flying colours in that regard, with an album that is ‘all killer and no filler’ and combines fine vocals and free and fiery playing throughout.

Review by Declan Culliton

Hannah Aldridge Dream Of America Icons Creating Art

Alabama-born Hannah Aldridge’s impressive recording back catalogue has not been easy to categorise. Is she country, alt-country, indie-folk/rock, or Americana?

Her latest album, DREAM OF AMERICA, certainly lands in the Americana pigeon hole, and its Southern Gothic style accurately represents, for me, what that genre used to depict before it expanded its borders and became a pigeonhole for many different music forms.

Aldridge has consistently excelled as a songwriter and no more so than on this latest album. Its lyrics and the orchestration that accompanies them are dark and mysterious, approaching a soundtrack to a film noir that’s not going to have a happy ending. She has dug deeply into her memory bank, reflecting on the shadier side of the South and the pressures imposed on character formation in an environment haunted by former times. The result is nine songs that explore a wide canvas of issues and events that are often hidden behind closed doors.

Written about the murder in 1947 of Elizabeth Short, aka The Black Dahlia, the opening track Dorero commends the victim rather than castigating her for what was considered unladylike behaviour by the public at that time.

‘Is that a black widow spider or a skinny young blonde that he's waiting for down by the nail salon? And is it blood on his shoulder, a little on his cheek?’ she asks on Portrait Of An Artist As A Middle Aged Man. Previously recorded by Lachlan Bryan and The Wildes, Aldridge’s treatment of the song gives it a modern-day Bobby Gentry sensibility. It’s a standout song, full of menace and mystique and at five and a half minutes, the longest track on the album.

The title track, at slightly over one minute, is the shortest one. It morphs into the piano-led albums’ tour de force, The Fall, a co-write and duet with Ben Glover. The second cover on the album is Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer, which slots perfectly into the overall theme of the record. Aldridge’s version, while not without menace, is more soulful and less threatening than the original. Her upbringing in a fundamentalist Christian environment strikes a chord in that direction with Unbeliever (‘People say you gotta give it time, So I gave it all the time I ever owned. I thought I had it coming down the line, but I was never the receiver’).

An album that catches your attention and holds it from start to finish, DREAM OF AMERICA is the boldest and most ambitious recording by Aldridge, and for me, her finest work to date.

Review by Declan Culliton

Philip Bowen Old Kanawha Self Release

There is something about this album that makes it one that will deeply resonate, for a certain listener, with its sense of empathy and understanding for family, friend and place. The themes are simple in the outlining of the sensibilities that Bowen wants to sing about. There are, for instance, two versions of the song Anymore (which reasons that they don’t make them like that anymore) which may have opened and closed the album, but in fact are placed one track apart at the end of the album’s thirteen inclusions as something of a bonus. Both work in their own right with the simplicity of the acoustic version as against the one recorded with a fuller set of musicians.

These players include Gerrod Bee, Jake Fine and Zach McCord, who all contribute some telling restrained electric guitar throughout. Other musicians include the rhythm section of Larry Shotter and Bee and Fine on bass. In other words a small, tightly focused set of contributors who also have Smith Curry on Dobro on, perhaps, the album standout track, Vampire In Appalachia - an analogy for a descending darkness in a divided country which prophesies “there’s a vampire in Appalachia and we’re running out of blood." However there is much more that captures the attention here. Other musical input comes from Joshua Howard, who plays piano on several tracks and Mike Thomas and Fine also contribute keyboards. On Vampire In Appalachia he is joined by Josiah & The Bonnevilles and for the title track of the album he shares the vocals with an old friend Charles Wesley Godwin, through whom he was introduced to the album’s producer, Jach McCord.

But central to the overall sound is Bowen’s own very accomplished use of strings (he started playing the fiddle at 4 years of age) and his acoustic guitar input. That and his resonate vocal gives these lyrics their humanity and depth. The themes are the universal struggle between beauty and decay, delight and despair, the healthy and the unwholesome; all viewed from a personal and the perceived perspective.

Bowen has established a strong online following on Instagram and TikTok from a well-received appearance on America’s Got Talent (where somewhat incongruously he covered a song by System Of A Down). Having not been exposed to these media events, I can judge Bowen purely on this debut album. Three singles have so far been released, including Sweet Honey, Vampire and Lightning Bugs, the latter is a song wherein he mentions liking The Brother Brothers, fans of whom I feel will find an affinity with Bowen’s music.

Paramount in the material is the sense of melody and arrangements, that make the songs feel timeless while simultaneously being updates of traditional themes. Better Together Again (Cora’s Song) is about togetherness and how that state is the best way to be. Every Season is a father’s affirmative message to his daughter about life’s path, while advising her never to give up on family and that the door is always open no matter what may lie ahead and the pride that’s felt in achievement.

The title track is about a place that is seen as home. Bowen, married with children, is now based in Detroit and undoubtedly has a yearning for West Virginia and the Appalachia of his roots. He is as adept at playing the fiddle as he is with his more structured performance on the violin. Though this album could be seen as a contemporary folk-oriented outing, his choice of cover song for the talent show demonstrates that he is not a purist listener or performer, but rather one grounded in his roots while ready to explore other trails. Hopefully, though, he won’t move too far from the sound he has established here. I can say here that I have listened to this album for some time since receiving it and have grown to really enjoy what it has to offer and so can only urge you to do the same.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Shane Terrell & The Stumblers Well Worn Jukebox Self Release

This is an eight track for Terrell and his band,  who play a solid mix of Texas country and touches of some red dirt hard rock. Based in Abilene, the band self produced this record of raw sounding blue-collar song writing and one song,  Thanksgiving Song, was produced in a second version by noted musician Marc Ford. It appears on the album twice, so I am assuming the file track marked “new version” is the Ford produced one. It is a similar version of the understated song, though longer than the opening take. It is an appeal to one half of a seemingly lost relationship, and shows the song in a setting that might perhaps point to an outside producer on the next release. It is the album’s stand-out song that readily sums up what this band is about.

There are guitars and organs driving the songs over the solid rhythm section and Terrell’s powerful vocal can be stadium strong as well as back-porch ready, as is required by the songs. There are versions of the songs delivered with just voice and guitar on Facebook that contrast with the mainly full fire delivery on the album. Terrell also does solo live performances,  depending on the venue, as well as those with his three-piece band on a bigger stage.

Alone In Abilene shows the way that there is a compatibility here with Terrell’s lyrical subject matter, their audience, its lifestyles and views. It is a little less upfront at the start, but still has that sense of being lost in one’s search for another. Front Door follows a similar theme of home and finding some new hope once he sees “you walk through that front door.” Self awareness is central to the other worldlyYellow Devil Living, which features some effective piano and steel, while Godamn Alone is a full force attack, with all involved giving it their best in another song that seeks that essential human contact. Midnight Romeo is about a night-time prowler looking for some solace in the later night bars. These are the songs that likely the protagonist would punch up on a bar’s well worn jukebox.

Terrell has a background in punk and rockabilly bands back in his home state of Arizona. Elements of those two genres are still influences, if somewhat buried now, with the rockier southern element a little more apparent. Perhaps the main difference from the live band to that here is the use of keyboards and occasional steel that give added texture and depth on some of the songs. They obviously have a solid following in their home state and this mini-album will doubtless enhance their standing locally, something that may well be expanded with a full album that could achieve wider recognition for Terrell and the band, if the breaks fall right in what is a highly competitive market.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Erika OlsonThis Is How I Pray Ez Come Ez Go

Kicking off with Mom Life a song about suburbia blues, car pools, school schedules and parental pressures, Erika Olson delivers a debut album of real interest. Her website states that “ I raise babies and write songs from a cosy corner of Southeast England.” That cosy corner is a small country village in East Sussex, via her birthplace of Albuquerque, New Mexico and various other life adventures in between.

Another song Hungry Little Bird could well be autobiographical as it looks at a young girl out in the world at a tender young age of seventeen and daring to make it alone. Missing the scaffolding and support of family can be a lonely road to travel and the lines ‘How on earth did it get so bad, Can’t you feel the love you have,’ tell their own story. Elsewhere the song Benefit Of the Doubt tackles peer pressure and bullying at school while feeling scared to stand up against the actions of others that you knew to be wrong.

Songs like This Is How I Pray and Wreckage suffer from the inclusion of synth percussion that dominates the mix. These tracks are more commercial in delivery and perhaps Olson had one eye on radio play when it came to the final versions that made it to the album. As contemporary folk with a commercial leaning goes, her writing is strong enough to stand alone and the over-production on certain songs does her no real favours.

Erika Olson takes all the lead vocal parts and plays acoustic guitar on the album. Producer Jonny Wright provides acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, bass, synth, percussion and vocals, with guests Chris Hillman on pedal steel guitar and Dan Raza contributing vocals and acoustic guitar on separate tracks.

Albuquerque Nights looks back at a younger memory when new love was in the air and the song works really well with a slow tempo and engaging vocal delivery. Equally the track As I Am points to a direction that suits Olson, with a reflective love song about changing lives and trying to keep a relationship fresh ‘Remember when nights were for whispers and dreams,  Now you find me passed out between spreadsheets and screens.’ Co-vocal on this standout song is provided by Dan Raza. This theme continues into Momma Ain’t Got No Time with a look at frazzled commitment schedules and ‘Then its, bags to pack, meals to make, Cuts and bruises to mend, Diapers to change, monsters to tame And a mound of dishes that never ends.’

Little Shoulders closes the album and is a tribute to Olson’s daughter and the hope that future generations bring ‘Sing, dance, be one with joy, Play the lost and sacred chords, Catch the moon in your wings as you soar.’ It’s a fine sentiment on which to end what is an engaging album and I have no doubt that Olson will continue to grow into her own signature sound as she continues to develop her musical direction.

Review by Paul McGee

The Rifters The Enchanted World Howlin' Dog

The dictionary states that a rifter is a crack in sea ice, but such a definition doesn’t seem to fit easily  with the superb music that this band creates. Unless you take the meaning to refer to the space between what is separated, because in such gaps lies the intuitive playing and creative flow of this music, sprung from the original source.

The Rifters Band formed in 2002 in Taos, New Mexico, and comprises Rod Taylor (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Don Richmond (guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, pedal steel guitar, dobro, harmonica, vocals), and Jim Bradley (bass, vocals). Their prowess across a wide range of instruments gives a special quality to the music, which defies genre and instead, delivers a timeless beauty. The harmony vocals are the icing on the cake and with seven albums to their name, plus years of honing their craft, the Rifters musical synergy with their desert and mountain regions of the Western State is a joy to behold.

This album kicks off with The Circle, and a song about a farmer who works his land through the changing seasons, capturing the magic of nature in all its forms. Immediately the interplay between the trio is highlighted by the understated way in which each player supports the melody and in the easy flow of the harmony vocals. It sets the template for the thirteen tracks that follow, mostly celebrating the natural beauty that surrounds us, and songs such as The Greatest Mystery, At the Foot Of the Mountain and the album title The Enchanted World bear witness to the sense of wonder the we all feel when contemplating the universe.

The Perfect Dance and It’s Cause You’ve Lived both reflect on life and the lessons given, and taken, from the years of looking for a balance in all things. With elements of bluegrass, folk and country leanings the songs display a seamless quality as they unfold with musicianship of the highest standards. The eco-friendly plea of The Dollar Worth Of Mother Earth hides the frustration felt at the wasted years in denying the scientific warnings, and leaving an onus for future generations to clean up the mess. The Wonder Of You is a love song with a tex-mex feel to the melody, with pedal steel, mandolin and fiddle rising in unison and the light, jazzy arrangement on Nothing Is Free highlights the range of styles on display here.

That Lucky Old Sun reflects on earthly toils and So Many Different Things features the vocals of Eliza Gilkyson, an artist that has worked closely with Don Richmond as producer on her last three albums. At the Rail has a bluesy feel to the arrangement and the slow melody is augmented by accordion in the reflections on a life that has led to decisions that loom large. The final song is Gentle On My Mind, a bluegrass tribute to the great Glen Campbell song. It’s laced with joyful ensemble playing and again highlights the warm, embracing feeling that this music generates. Everybody can do with some Rifters inspiration in their lives these days. Don’t hesitate to surround yourself with this superbly crafted music.   

Review by Paul McGee

Marina Rocks Texcentric Self Release

Texas has turned out many excellent musicians over the decades and it continues to be a hotbed for emerging talent. Included in the potent mix of influential country styles has been Red Dirt, Tejano and Neotraditional. However, it’s in the spirit of Outlaw country that this recent release finds a space among those that were determined to break through existing boundaries. The pioneering spirit of Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Joe Ely and Steve Earle has stood the test of time and continued in the true essence of singer-songwriters such as Townes Van Zandt, whose legacy is a rich reminder of all that is special in Texas country folklore. It’s therefore appropriate that on this EP release of six songs, Marina Rocks has included a cover of the classic Townes, If I Needed You, even if her ‘rocked-up’ version is very far away from the original.

Born in Austin and with four previous solo albums to her name, Rocks certainly lives up to her surname by delivering a fine slice of Americana-fused dynamic on this EP. She has clearly been influenced by a number of genres in her earlier years, including, rock, blues and country leanings. Rocks is a very accomplished guitar player and sings with plenty of energy and attitude; if you crossed Ani di Franco with Melissa Etheridge then you get the general direction of where she is located.

While not yet ready to be anything more than an admirer of the guitar greats of Texan legend, you can hear obvious influences in her playing that suggest Stevie Ray Vaughan and Steve Miller, among others. Rocks also has a very distinctive vocal tone and her opening song Dummin’ Down doesn’t hold back on her views concerning the malaise spread by ‘fake news’ and sound-bite media miasma. Next song Willie Hole is in reference to the great man and his trusty guitar, Trigger.  Rocks has also worn a hole in her favourite Godin guitar with her strident strumming and the urgency on this track is very appropriate to the energy given off in her performances. Lloyd Maines guests on dobro.

Walking On Water is a song written by R.W. Boyd and it reflects a different side of Rocks as she slows everything down in a reflective look at the craziness that surrounds so much in these modern times. Nameless is another rhythmic ride into the media madness of wanting to stand out among the ever-hungry crowds seeking attention, ‘Everybody’s saying, Do you know my name.’   The cover version of If I Needed You is filled with a building energy, fuelled by the bass of Aden Brubeck and the drumming of Pat Menske. It delivers with a fine soulful vocal by Rocks in due reverence to the original song sentiment.

The final track is the instrumental Blue Skies that again highlights the superb guitar technique of Rocks and it is a mid-tempo arrangement that gently brings everything to a successful rest-stop along the highway. There is no doubting the talent on display here and I have a strong sense that we will continue to hear more about this interesting artist. For now, her back catalogue beckons.

Review by Paul McGee

Mapache Swinging Stars Innovative Leisure

This is album number five in a rich vein of form that highlights the combined talents of Clay Finch and Sam Blasucci. The duo are high school friends and their songwriting embraces all that is timeless in the cosmic folk creativity of Californian coastlines and hazy summer days spent in the sun. On this recording the fourteen songs run along familiar ground, the lovely melodies laced with gentle strumming, drifting pedal steel and the occasional change of pace into mid-tempo band interplay. The musicians are Sam Blasucci (electric guitar, dobro, piano), Clay Finch (acoustic, electric guitars, flute), Steve Didelot (drums), Dan Horne (bass, pedal steel), with single song appearances from Dave Rawlings (acoustic guitar), and Spencer Dunham (bass).

Across fifty two minutes the tracks entice the listener into a sense of quiet reverie and the location chosen for this beautifully blissful music no doubt set the template for all that followed. The band decamped to the Panoramic House in Stinson Beach, Marin County, California. It sounds typically idyllic for a region that naturally exudes peaceful calm and scenic ocean vistas. Producer Dan Horne has worked with the band on all their albums and by now has their unique collaborative skills harnessed in the most creative fashion. Interestingly, on this project both songwriters brought their own individual styles to the table as they now live in different locations. Not that you would notice in the seamless style that forms the glue of all their creative outpouring.

Starting off with the Spanish song Sentir, the knowledge of what can be achieved by letting the process evolve, reflects perfectly on songs like French Kiss, a tribute to the Belgium-born French film director, screenwriter, photographer, and artist, Agnès Varda. Her seminal works included films such as La Pointe Courte (1955) and Le Bonheur (1965). Elsewhere the gentle sway of What A Summer, Sammy Boy and Midnight (partly sung in Spanish), delight and defy description, as they wrap their melodies in sweet sounds. The instrumental Home Among the Swinging Stars features the lovely flute playing of Finch and the swooning pedal steel of Horne. The song Ghosts is about as mid-tempo as we get, with a nice groove to the rhythm and a vocal from Finch that is filled with a quiet angst and passion in the delivery. Encinal Canyon and Amazing are songs that engage, even while dealing with broken relationships and feelings that time has changed everything. Even if the lyrics can tend to be somewhat obscure, this doesn’t detract from the beautiful arrangements.

This is another very rewarding album from Mapache, a duo that continue to evolve their wonderful soundscapes that bring such peaceful calm and succour in these challenging times. Essential listening.

Review by Paul McGee

Joshua Ray Walker, Kyle Nix Hannah Aldridge Music, Philip Bowen Music, Shane Terrell & The Stumblers, Erika Olson, The Rifters Mapache.

New Album Reviews

Mighty Poplar Self-Titled Free Dirt

The five members of supergroup Mighty Poplar became firm friends over the years, as their paths crossed at many competitions, festivals and recording studios in the bluegrass and roots realms. Recorded live in one room in the rural Tractor Studios outside Nashville, though bluegrass is at the heart of the project this is, in essence, a folk album. The choice of songs was compiled by Andrew Marlin (Watchtower) and he takes the lead vocal on most of them, with his trademark laidback delivery, as well as playing mandolin and guitar. He is joined by two Punch Brothers: Noam Pikelny on banjo and Chris Eldridge on guitar. Then there’s a former Punch Brother but now bassist with Leftover Salmon, Greg Garrison, and fiddler extraordinaire Alex Hargreaves, who currently plays with Billy Strings.

Kicking off fittingly with a Carter Family song (popularised by Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard), A Distant Land to Roam, one is immediately aware that there’s no showing off here, just great ensemble playing, all in the service of the song or tune. The interpretations feel fresh and energetic. Another traditional folk song, also covered by the Carter Family, Blackjack Davy is given quite a new feel with its more uptempo rendition and swing jazz stylings. Bob Dylan’s dark tale of the perils of coal mining, North Country Blues, is another sympathetic retelling, while the oft covered Little Joe stays fairly close to Norman Blake’s version. John Hartford is remembered with Let Him Go On Mama, his tale of a pilot working on the paddle steamers on the Ohio river. The most recently penned song included comes from the pen of Martha Scanlan - Up on The Divide recounts the hardship of continuing the tradition of farming in Montana, despite the coming of the destructive mining industry. There are two tremendous instrumentals: Alex Hargreaves’ fiddle introduces the uptempo (150 beats/min!) fiddle tune Grey Eagle, although the other four musicians are well capable of matching and harmonising beautifully with him, and Kicking Up the Devil On A Holiday/Dr. Heckock’s Jig again demonstrate the supreme musicianship and offer ample opportunities to each player to shine. Leonard Cohen’s powerful Story of Isaac is perhaps even more affecting than the original, and the traditional Lovin’ Babe (newly arranged and expanded by Kristin Andreassen) is sublime.

The band’s name is affectionately stolen from a phrase used by Bill Monroe (in a recorded conversation with Doc Watson) where he explains that a particular song was “mighty pop’lar”.

Here’s hoping that Mighty Poplar Vol 2 is in the works, because Mighty Poplar are mighty pop’lar round these here parts.

Review by Eilís Boland

Laurie Jones Dark Horse Self Release

Jones recorded this album at Halo Studio in Maine, USA, her sixth in a career that goes back to a debut release in 2001. Two more albums found their way to market in the lead up to 2007, before a career break and a period of stepping back from the business and a relentless touring schedule. Jones re-emerged in 2016 with the release of The Truth About Her, closely followed in the following year by the appearance of Bridges.

This new album was ready to go in 2021 but with Covid getting in the way of a return to the touring circuit, Jones was forced to wait for the chance to rekindle her career. This European release is very welcome and the co-production of Darren Elder and Mehuman Ernst delivers a slice of classic Americana with the emphasis on the Rock side of that broad musical genre. There are nine tracks in total and they are all written by Jones, with the exception of Dazed which was created by Torin Storm Jones. The no-holds-barred approach on songs such as Light Side, No Hell and Sorry I’m Stilted lay down an impressive marker. The band dynamic is edgy and the playing has a very fresh and fulsome quality.

Quieter songs like Good Man, Letting Go and Dazed all show another side to the talent on display and the reflection on love gained and lost is the dominant theme running through the project. Opening song That Summer has a more commercial sound while the slower arrangements on Resurrecting Joan and Bombs are perfectly suited to the expressive vocal style of Jones in their delivery.

Studio engineer Kevin Billingslea contributed to the album on guitars and bass, while co-producer Elder played percussion. Jake Wertman (drums), Torin Jones (acoustic guitar), Glen Kavin (keyboards and strings), and Amy Gauthier (backing vocals) made up the impressive studio band. A very solid welcome back statement from an artist with a lot to offer. Jones may have felt like a ‘dark horse’ at certain stages of her career, but she is now definitely galloping into the light.

Review by Paul McGee

Lori McKenna 1988 CN/Thirty Tigers

Born and raised in Stoughton, Massachusetts, the place where she still lives, Lori McKenna is a much revered singer songwriter. She grew up playing in the coffee houses of the Boston Folk music scene although her frequent affiliations with Nashville have seen McKenna adopted as a Country music artist, with her gift to pen songs for others as much as for her own solo career. She has written hits for a number of artists including Tim McGraw, Reba McEntire, Little Big Town, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban.

This new release marks her twelfth studio album in a star studded career that has admired McKenna’s ability to capture a song in both complex lyrical themes and sweet melodies, while framing the emotions of all who dwell in the realms of fragility and kindness. Her creative muse runs deep and her writing has been placed at the very top of the mountain where fellow writers such as Mary Chapin Carpenter, Eliza Gilkyson and Lynn Miles reside. The album title is in tribute to the year in which McKenna married her husband having first met in high school and married young. They have five children and the life they share is part of the fabric woven through this new collection of twelve songs. The themes of family, belonging, loving and losing are familiar touchstones on previous albums, but mixed here with youthful memory, reflection, longing, missed opportunities and bitter regret.

Dave Cobb, six-time Grammy Award winner, produced the album at his Nashville studio and this is the fourth time that the duo have teamed up in what has been a very rewarding partnership in a rich vein of success. Six of the songs are co-writes, including two with her sons Brian and Chris, which must have been a really empowering experience. McKenna has always been comfortable with writing with others and for many other songwriters this can often be a stumbling block. Over her career she has learned to let the process flow and the creativity never seems to be very far away from her guitar and notebook as a result.

Here we have songs of family, of friends who took wrong turns, past memories of growing up and dealing with the passage of time. Recollections that somehow encapsulate the hopes and dreams of tomorrow. These are words of experience and perspective, littered with old wisdom, sage advice and providing fuel for the journey ahead. The Old Woman In Me is a celebration of the ageing process and so beautifully observed ‘I hope some day I get to be the old woman in me.’ The next track Happy Children is reminiscent of an earlier hit that she wrote for Tim McGraw, Humble and Kind (2016). It is a guide book for life lessons that will keep another on the correct path. It’s a prayer for only good things in living. Killing Me is a co-write and features the vocals of Hillary Lindsey on a song that looks at relationship blues. The up-tempo rhythm masks the lyric ‘Tryna make you happy is killing me.’

Days Are Honey looks at riding out the difficult times in any relationship and looking for the joy ‘All that sting, All that bittersweet.’ The title song, 1988 is an open love song to her husband and their thirty five years together as a team ‘Looking back on those early days, Between playing house and praying for grace.’ One of the standout songs is Growing Up and the issues of leaving youthful memories and small town dreams in the past ‘You move on the way time does, Till something brings you right back to growing up.’ This is followed by another highlight in Wonder Drug and a tale of watching an old friend slip away under the addiction of opioids ‘Blue collar life and all its weight, I was right there and I was too late.’

Letting go of an old friend can bring the hardest pain of all, whether a family member or someone who grew up with you. The Town In Your Heart captures this emotion perfectly ‘You were tail lights on the highway, flying, Searching for something nobody ever, ever finds.’ And the chorus sums up all the hurt of separation in the lines ‘I hope I live on a road in the town in your heart.’ The very personal Letting People Down seems to be questioning what all the accolades are worth when you doubt yourself and wish for more ‘ Hold your arms out, God help the justified, I fall short, I always fall behind.’

Final song The Tunnel is another look back down the road once travelled and the ways in which our youth shapes the eventual road that we find ourselves upon. It accepts that life is unkind and that looking for the light can be hard. Finding something to aim for and to keep running towards it is the key to escaping the dark ‘ I don't know how it works or how God picks who gets to get through, It just seems like a lot of life's been mostly the tunnel for you.’

The themes explored here are what real life is made of, the joys and the disappointments, the doubts and the pain. However, running through it all is the soft touch of someone who has her hand on the wheel and is steering a steady course. Lori McKenna has delivered another superbly crafted album and one that stands alongside her best work.

Review by Paul McGee

Sam Blasucci Off My Stars Innovative Leisure

As a core member of Mapache, a band that he created with friend Clay Finch, Blasucci has seen his blend of Inde-Folk and Country-smooth sounds become a staple of the Californian Roots Rock scene since the 2017 debut. Stepping aside from the five albums released as Mapache, here we see Blasucci working with Johnny Payne, producer and songwriter (Asia), and together they recorded the twelve songs included on this debut solo album.

Recorded at Lone Palm Studios in Los Angeles, a location well-known to Mapache, a different perspective surfaced and provided Blascucci with the freedom to stretch out in the song melodies and arrangements. The use of saxophone on opener Sha La La is inspired and lends a nice soulful aspect to the sweet vocal delivery. On other songs Every Night On the Farm and Can You Teach Me? we find Blasucci on familiar territory with lingering melodies and timeless inflections, wrapped in beautiful and drifting soundscapes that prove so appealing.

There are cover versions included  and the interpretation of the Cranberries’ classic Linger sees Blasucci paying homage to the original vocal performance of Dolores O’Riordan with perhaps a more mellow delivery. Other covers of Il Mondo (Pes, Greco, Meccia, Fontana ) and Thank You (Dido, Herman) are delivered in real style, the former sung in Italian and the latter a new take on a classic hit. The tribute to his father Proud Of You is another fine moment on the album and no doubt David Blasucci (Toto) is another big fan of the broad talent that his son continues to explore on his recorded output. The easy jazz groove of final song I’m Glad delivers a gentle love song and name checks pet dog Roscoe who was the inspiration for last year’s release, Roscoe’s Dream. This is elegant music, performed in the understated manner that we have come to expect from prior albums and it comes highly recommended.

Review by Paul McGee

The Pawn Shop Saints Weeds Dollyrocker

This band has been around since 2012 and is the creation of Jeb Barry, based in Massachusetts. Over the Covid pandemic they released two albums, ORDINARY FOLKS (2020) and RIDE MY GALAXY (2022) and their sound is very much rooted in the Americana tradition of character songs and reflections on blue collar life in the USA. The band is comprised of Jeb Barry (vocals, guitars, bass, banjo, organ, harmonica), Michael O’Neill (guitars, vocals), Amy Attias (fiddle), Tony Pisano (accordion) and Josh Pisano (drums, percussion, vocals).

James is a song that channels the death of a friend and focuses on the need for everyone to think of their own place in life and how fragile it all can be. The War is written around a father/son relationship where the barriers erected over time stop real communication and any open expression of feelings. The effects of the Covid virus still linger and inform songs like The Covid Unit and Miss June, tackling the ignorance of those who thought they knew better than the medical experts and also the loneliness of those who ended up dying alone without the loving support of others. Twine is a tribute to John Prine who died of Covid complications and the lines that resonate in the song include ‘I’m still holding this life together with twine.’

This is an acoustic-based album with a confessional theme in both the writing and the delivery of these earnest songs. Memorial Day looks at the hypocrisy that surrounds such events where the loss of life is easily forgotten in the superficial act of planting remembrance flags once a year. The title track Weeds is about the demons that we all carry around with us and the tongue-in-cheek Baby Got Drunk hides the reality of those who turn to stimulants to try and ease the pain.

Final song All Girls Break Hearts is a look at the fragile nature of relationships and the dangers involved in surrendering yourself to another, the haunting fiddle of Amy Attias adding to the poignant reflection. There is no doubting Jeb Barry’s ability to write a memorable song and this collection will speak to many in terms of his honest and open rumination on the human condition.

Steve Mednick 1952 Cottage Sound

This singer songwriter has been releasing music since 2006 and is based in New Haven, Connecticut. The latest album was recorded at Cottage Sounds Studios in Middlebury and the production by Isaac Civitello is really excellent. Mednick has called upon a very talented group of musicians to bring his twelve songs to life here and their interplay is certainly impressive and vibrant. The album title appears to reference Mednick’s year of birth and the songs look at the signposts that mark the key moments along life’s path. Days spent in questioning the universe is something that we can all relate to, and even become a victim of; frozen in time and unable to grasp the significance of the great beyond.  On these songs, Mednick seeks to come up with answers that bring a degree of comfort.

On Fulton Hill Mednick sings that ‘I never gave up on love’ and the sweet harmonica brings a sense of nostalgia for times passed. There are regrets, like the song We Never Found Our Way that examines a failed relationship and Stars That Shine Like Diamonds looks to find real meaning in new love and hope for tomorrow. Opener Version Of the Truth asks whether memory is entirely selective and Lost and Found has a nice drum shuffle rhythm and a message to try and find the silver lining in the darkest cloud. The driving This Place is a return to the past and a location that brings back old memories ‘It’s been a long time since I saw her face.’

The lengthy After All These Years highlights the full range of Mednick’s vision as he delivers across an eight-section song that reflects upon his life. ‘Got rivers to cross, don’t know how many, It makes no difference to me,’ kicks the notion of ageing gracefully as Mednick resolves to keep pushing through and searching for new beginnings. The soaring guitar on Time Is A Strange Thing brings the suite to a climax and makes way for the acoustic An Extended Term which sings of wanting to stay on this mortal coil for as long as possible.   

The assembled players really shine with the superb guitar of Karl Allweier a regular highlight. Producer Issac Civitello adds drums, percussion, keyboards, guitar and vocals. There are various guests on selected songs with Brett Calabrese taking lead guitar on four songs, and both Ashley Bathgate (cello) and Eddie Seville (harmonica) adding their contributions, along with backing vocals from Falshyuyy Holos. Mednick wrote all the songs and plays guitar, piano and organ in addition to singing all the lead vocals. The final song, appropriately titled Living For Tomorrow reflects that ‘I wish I could take the years of time and bottle wisdom to store with my wine,’ a defining sentiment that captures the moment.

Mednick is a prolific writer with fourteen previous releases, including three albums since Covid struck in 2020. His music is very much in the Americana genre with plenty of roots-based rock and reflective ballads. An artist definitely worth checking out, both for his versatility and for his undoubted talent.

Todd Partridge Autumn Never Knows Self Release

This is a very enjoyable album featuring eight songs that are filled with easy melody and plenty of lyrical playing. Todd Partridge is an Iowa based artist who more than delivers on vocals, mandolin, acoustic and electric guitar and he is a member of the band King Of the Tramps since 2011.

Opening song Postcards From the Sea contains the lyric ‘Maybe love is just the silence between the good things that don’t get said’ and suddenly you pick up your attention. Next up is another insightful song Where the Highway Meets the Sky with some lovely pedal steel playing and the lines ‘well the road gets heavy and the road gets mean, we try to help each other in between, I guess we’re just walking each other home.’ It’s all about just letting the journey unfold…

The slow groove of Sioux Falls is a perfect antidote to a broken heart and the reflection that ‘a bird on a string is a bird that can’t sing, the love song that freedom can bring.’ Wood has a traditional country vibe with some nice violin parts while Lucy Brown channels early Eagles harmonies and some warm organ layers on a song that speaks of love and longing. Partridge has a sweet vocal style and he is back by Bryan Vanderpool (drums, percussion, banjo, guitar, vocals), Kathryn Severing Fox (violin, viola), Sarah Vanderpool (keyboards, organ, vocals) and Jay Foote (fender bass).

Junk Train has a lonesome guitar sound and banjo backing on a prairie song about travelling free and moving with the rhythm of a life on the wing. Blessing follows with a message of support to anyone who needs that sense of a friend in their corner ‘May there always be a road and a hand for you to hold… a blanket to keep you warm when you get old.’ Final song Sorrow leaves the feeling that Partridge is saying goodbye to a close friend, perhaps a family member, whose time has come. It’s a sombre end to what is a celebratory album but perhaps the real message is that life has many ups and downs and the key is trying the ‘seize the day.’ A very impressive album and one that delivers plenty of memorable moments.

Review by Paul McGee

Dan Tuffy and Song Crew Country Star Smoked

Australian artist Dan Tuffy has two previous solo albums to his name, SONGS FROM DAN (2016) and LETTERS OF GOLD (2020). Tuffy has made his home in the Netherlands for the last twenty five years and on this album he has called on some excellent local players in multi-instrumentalist Madelief van Vlijmen, (aka Madlife), guitarist and pedal steel player Stefan Wolfs, and drummer and percussionist Mischa Porte. They prove to be a very dextrous trio in the studio and the interplay on these nine songs is both intuitive and sensitive. They are joined by Zlaya Loud who produced the album and who contributes synthesizers and electronics, plus Michael Turner on two tracks with Matt Walker on another; both providing additional colour on drums, drones, guitars, keyboards, and electro sounds.

There is a loose, chilled, quality to the arrangements that is both considered and effective. The overall impression is of a very self assured and talented artist who has a particular vision of how his music should be represented. The album doesn’t outlive its stay, clocking in at just over the half hour mark and there is plenty of variety across the songs. Life lessons from ‘never pick up the telephone in a strange woman’s house’ to ‘always leave your shirt on at the table’  are dispensed on Don’t Smoke In Bed and could be right out of the John Martyn Folk songbook with strummed guitars and an easy rhythm.  Firetails brings a different hue, with restrained percussion, tinkling piano and a rich memory of fiches and bird migration.

Home Sweet Sunshine is an acoustic essay on the dangers of family strife and excessive drinking, double bass, keys and brushed drums setting the atmosphere. Tuffy targets social issues on Where Does the Money Go which is a diatribe on the evils of power in the wrong hands and the lie of the trickle down economy with lines like ‘They ripped the trees out across the big valley, to build estates for the walking dead.’ Justified anger and well-aimed at the political masters of greed.

Polecat shimmers with a slow burn tempo in a tale of someone living off the grid and making a living from used car parts and whatever comes down the track. Some very tasty guitar and restrained keyboard sounds adding to the groove. There are echoes of Leonard Cohen on Silver Morning, with the husky spoken vocal of Tuffy particularly effective in the delivery . The track Venom and Mud  has Tuffy examining his relationships and contemplating that ‘ain’t nobody getting nowhere digging up each other’s dirt.’ If all we do is carry grudges, then everything just gets worse as we get older, ‘you gotta swim through the venom and the mud to get things done these days.’ Amen to that…

Man Of Feeling is a highlight and the jazz-like flow to the guitar and bass melody is balanced against fuzz guitar and keyboard explorations. Tuffy plays with the dynamic across the arrangement, lifting the tempo and reflecting on our collective  journey. Final track Up A Tree is an acoustic folk song and a meditative piece that brings a sense of calm to all the distraction and disconnection. An Interesting album and worthy of your time.

Review by Paul McGee

The Golden Roses Coverage From Signal Hill Self Release

The joyful sound of this band is quite infectious and over two prior albums the Golden Roses has proven their obvious talent, something that can be witnessed on a regular basis in their local Austin, Texas honky-tonks and dancehalls. They are a real treasure and comprise John Mutchler (vocals, guitar), Heather Rae Johnson (vocals, fiddle), Troy Wilson (bass, backing vocals), Shawnee Rose (drums), and Tony Rincon (pedal steel). The band has a very strong work ethic that has honed their skills over numerous gigs and rehearsals On this 4-song EP they have tipped their collective hat at the great songs that have inspired so many in the country music genre over the decades.

We have cover versions of Amarillo Highway (Terry Allen), Willin’ (Lowell George) and Pancho and Lefty (Townes Van Zandt). As always, the playing is addictive and the spirit within this band shines through in bursts of great interplay, especially the flight of pedal steel and fiddle, intertwined with twanging guitar sounds. Each song is given the Roses stamp in the arrangement but still stays true to the original. We also get a Roses original on the addictive Feelin’ Single, Seein’ Double with superb lead vocal delivered by Heather Rae Johnson.

The band also released a tribute to Jerry Jeff Walker with the song Jaded Lover and a new single titled New Pal has also recently seen the light of day. Texas two steppin’ into a bright future is what awaits all who discover this hidden jewel. They no doubt kick up a storm in a live setting and if you want to get some idea of their celebratory sound then visit the website and click on the live song Top Shelf Whiskey & Cold Lone Star Beer. Energising, exciting and invigorating! “WE PLAY, Y’ALL DANCE!”

Review by Paul McGee

Mighty Poplar, Laurie Jones Music , Lori McKenna, The Pawn Shop Saints, Steve Mednick, Todd Partridge (King Of The Tramps), Dan Tuffy & Song Crew, and The Golden Roses

New Album Reviews

Jason Eady Mississippi Old Guitar

Texas-based singer songwriter Jason Eady’s excellent 2012 release, AM COUNTY HEAVEN, was my introduction to the talented wordsmith and it’s fair to say that his subsequent five albums, prior to the release of MISSISSIPPI, lived up to the standard of that fine album.

His last record from 2021, THE PASSAGE OF TIME, was a particularly personal affair. Written in the main during lockdown, it reflected on matters close to the heart, both past and present. Eady’s latest album is equally nostalgic, with the writer looking back at the music and events that initially drew him into the world of songwriting and performance. It’s a project that he had been contemplating working on for a number of years, capturing the Mississippi sounds and styles that surrounded him as a young man. Certain tracks in his previous work did do as much, but he’s gone the full hog on this occasion with a full album, ten tracks in total, of what he namechecks ‘the ‘Mississippi groove.’ Recorded live, including the harmony vocals, at The Finishing School, Austin, Texas, the production was overseen by Band of Heathens member, Gordy Quist.

Eady’s opening lines on the album are, ‘Way down in Mississippi, I got the music in my bones. I’ll take you there if you want to come with me, I’m gonna go back home.’ Fusing gospel and blues and loaded with handclaps and harmonies, that song, Way Down in Mississippi, is a snapshot of what follows. Those handclaps and harmonies, courtesy of Kelley Mickwee and Eady’s wife, Courtney Patton, are also equally well placed on Wayside.  Two co-writes with the like-minded Adam Hood are included, the funky Burn It Down and the swampy-blues Mile Over 45. The former echoes the mood of J.J. Cale, the latter is from Tony Joe White territory.

Eady is on record explaining that whereas his concentration as a songwriter is typically lyric-driven, his intention with this album was to replicate the sounds that surrounded him and were so dear to him as a child and young adult. Musically, and indeed lyrically, he expresses those dynamics confidently and with aplomb on MISSISSIPPI, shifting between blues, gospel, and swamp rock, without ever sounding self-indulgent. It may be a slight departure from Eady’s previous work, but it’s a worthy companion to his most impressive back catalogue of albums.

Review by Declan Culliton

Erin Viancourt Won’t Die This Way Late August

‘Erin is a badass with every possible skill one needs to make it in this business. The perfect debut artist for Late August Records,’ announced Cody Jinks when he made Erin Viancourt the first signing to his label. Encouraging words indeed from the Music Row Independent Artist of The Year in 2023, who had the most radio spins for an independent artist last year. Jinks has also sold over two million albums and has over two and a half million monthly followers on Spotify.

Regardless of talent, extreme patience and nerve are just two of the many virtues required by artists moving to Nashville to further their careers. The term ‘ten-year town’ is anything but throwaway and there is little guarantee of triumph for those brave enough to dedicate a decade of their young lives in pursuit of their goals.  Like many of her peers, Cleveland, Ohio-raised Erin Viancourt was writing songs from her teenage years and headed to Nashville after high school to make her mark in the industry. Her debut full album, WON’T DIE THIS WAY, is the result of her song writing over a decade, coupled with numerous live appearances and much of the record’s material reflect on that journey. Earning opening slots for Travis Tritt and Cody Jinks in 2021 raised her profile significantly and the signing to Late August Records has been the icing on the cake.

Alongside the skillset to write thought-provoking songs, Viancourt’s vocals display the optimum measures of twang, power, and control across the thirteen tracks on the album. She navigates her way from the classic country sound of yesteryear (B24, Old Time Melody, Beautiful Night For Goodbye), to the cream of modern country (Cheap Paradise, Straight Down The Barrel). She’s also equally as comfortable with her foot full on the throttle as she is with songs in the lower gears. The raucous Should Have Known Better is a Brandi Carlisle-type rocking anthem, tailor-made for the live setting and she slows things down a number of notches of the tender songs Pray and Who Taught You To Love.

No other artist has established themselves at the level Cody Jinks has while ignoring the industry movers and shakers and concentrating on self-promotion. His mentoring and guiding of Viancourt will be essential in her career development and this impressive debut recording is, without doubt, the launching pad for bigger and better things. Watch this space.

Review by Declan Culliton

Caitlin Canty Quiet Flame Self-Release

Another album that was delayed initially by the tornado that hit East Nashville in March 2020 and the pandemic which immediately followed, QUIET FLAME is the tenth studio recording by the Proctor, Vermont-born artist, Caitlin Canty. A further holdup, but in this case a joyous one, was the birth of her first child. Those delays put on pause the momentum that her 2015 album RECKLESS SKYLINE generated. That album earned Canty terrific reviews, positioning her very much in the ‘next best thing’ in Americana circles. Having said that, given her tendency for self-management and promotion, it’s debatable as to how that accolade actually sat with her. 

Unlike her previous albums, with this recording Canty adopted an entirely acoustic arrangement for the eleven songs that deliberate and dwell on issues such as character formation, resolve, and working with the cards you were dealt. The absence of electric instruments and drums allows Canty’s clear vocals, and the carefully observed and detailed tales in the songs, to take pride of place. That’s not to say that the instrumentation is lost in the mix, quite the contrary in fact. Her studio band, which featured four-time Grammy winner Sarah Jarosz (mandolin, banjo, vocals), Brittany Haas (fiddle), Paul Kowert (bass), and Canty’s husband Noam Pikelny (banjo), all contribute to the delightfully unhurried and often calming compilation of songs. The production was overseen by Chris Eldridge (Punch Brothers) and the tracks were recorded live over a four-day period at The Tractor Shed in Nashville. The warmth of the final mix plays out like an intimate live recording, an outcome that both Canty and Eldridge no doubt intended.

‘Gonna take my time in the middle of the road,’ announces Canty on Blue Sky Moon’s opening track. It’s a statement of intent mirrored in the fluid and unhurried pace of the album, as the writer reappraises the traumatic and exacting recent years. The backbone of the material is a newfound enthusiasm and acceptance of things both in and out of our control. References to the environment and nature are communicated in that opener and appear again on a number of other tracks. Canty is in splendid voice throughout, and in particular on the spell-binding Silver Sunset. It’s an intoxicating and emotive song that sits comfortably alongside Gillian Welch’s finest. She does pick the tempo up in Odds of Getting Even and Pull the Moon but it’s the slow burners, the title track included, that especially stand out.

Announcing the material from the album at the release launch at The Station Inn in Nashville, Canty admitted, ‘I stepped off the wheel for a while and now it’s test-the-waters time again. If you feel like hearing it, it’s there for you. But I’m not trying to convince anyone to love me anymore.’ On the contrary, QUIET FLAME should more than satisfy her admirers, and if her music is new to you, this is a delightful introduction and engaging listen from start to finish that more than merits your attention.  

Review by Declan Culliton

Rick Hornyak Dandelion Self Release

This album opens with some melodic rock and shows Hornyak versed in a mix of roots heartland rock, indie pop sensibilities and broad Americana. This is his second release and finds him in the production chair. His previous album MARIGOLD (released in 2011) featured fine players, such as Lloyd Maines and members of Robert Earl Keen’s band, he has again reached out to local musicians who have played with him live and Cindy Cashdollar returns to play steel as she did on the previous outing. Paul LeMond is a key player here on guitars, keyboards and vocals. Brad Johnson also plays a similar role on keyboards and accordion. The rhythm section is Ann Marie Harrop and Scott Matthews on bass and drums respectively and it’s rounded out by Danny G’s vocals. It was recorded over a period of time in a number of studios in Texas.

Hornyak supplies acoustic and electric guitars as well as the lead vocals and the songs. It opens in an inviting way with the melodic riff fuelled Shades Of Grey. This sets you up for the further nine tracks, which explore different aspects of Hornyak’s musical muse. Keyboards give Never Know Why a different approach with a strong repeated title chorus and a cutting rock guitar solo. There are songs here that look at the more positive sides of life like The Other Side and Drift Away, both are heart felt looks at the love and the sometime struggle it is to find it, themes that Hornyak doesn’t shy away from, looking as much at his own situation as the observations of others.

Continental Queen is a reference to a a recently lost lady who often inhabited the Continental Club to enjoy the ambience of the legendary venue. It features some steel guitar from Cashdollar in an affectionate and unhurried way. Taking a similarly easy pace is The Struggle With Destiny, which considers just that and how the world is both a big picture topic as well as one that has an immediate effect on one’s own situation.

There are moments when they amp up the guitar drive, such as in the appropriate discussion about Devil’s Daughter. These songs reveal Hornyak’s earlier, more metal influenced, past. Then again he mixes the sense of a ballad with the piano and with some guitar, blending different aspects of his vision on Wait For The Night, where the former steelworker, and many others in a similar lifestyle, look to the possibilities that exist as the day fades to night.

There are, as mentioned, a number of influences at work here but Hornyak brings them together with his overall arrangements and production values. The general feel is easily classifiable as Americana despite, or because of, its approach to blending these formats. Maybe not one for the honky-tonk fraternity, but redolent of an artist who is quietly seeking his own place for his personal journey. In doing so he will find those who will discover much to enjoy in his, often unhurried, music.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Tommy Stinson’s Cowboys In The Campfire Wronger Iceauk

The former Replacements, Bash & Pop, and sometime Guns & Roses musician has just released an album that is somewhat different from what those previous liaisons might suggest, though there are a couple of songs that have a degree of both bash and pop at their core. The album, his third solo outing, opens with the ukulele and brass elements of Here We Go Again, a song that perhaps acknowledges that he and his partner in campfire tales, Chris Roberts, are here and ready for action, though perhaps with a lesser approach than the big sound big arena shows that might have previously been the case. Roberts was something of a hired sideman but had worked with Stinson on some of his previous releases.

That’s It has more of that firepower and drive over its concise statement of intent that has elements of punk and hardcore country in it. The song Mr Wrong is again a short ode to a partner finding some solace and lasting time with the next partner. I’m personally immediately reminded of Squeeze in the next song, Schemes. Maybe that comparison is just mine, but it shows the sense of adventure that both bring to the album.

This is Stinson’s third solo album, but first in partnership with Roberts, which has seen them take a more contemplative approach to the sessions. Much more in the cow-punk direction, both sonically and lyrically, is Fall Apart Together, which has a relaxed twangy heart in its acceptance of a way to deal with life, if only for a short time. There is an awareness of the problems that divide America and the rest of the world in the way the lyrics of Hey Man calls out some of these issues.

We Ain’t again has that ‘cow-punk’ heritage and sound, with strong harmonies and some shit-kicking guitar. The acoustic guitars of Karma’s Bitch are again dealing with the darker moments. It is twangy in its look at how things can so easily go from bad to worse. There is a less defined sound, perhaps, on Souls, but it has some impassioned singing and telling guitar in the mix.

The album closes with Dream that is full of hope for the future and ends what is an album that rewards repeated playing, and shows the combination of Stinson and Roberts is one that will hopefully lead to some further collaborations. It would seem that the duo and their collaborators, such as X bassist John Doe’s adding vocal back-up on four tracks and Christine Smith’s production (she did half the album’s recording), lay the ground for this to happen in the future.

It is an album that has been widely well-received and seen as a likely candidate for the best album to bear Tommy Stinson’s name. There is a lot that is right about WRONGER and it is one that his fans can explore to discover its worth.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Water Tower Live From Los Angeles Self Release

Originally known as The Water Tower Bucket Boys and founded by Kenny Feinstein in Portland, Oregon in 2005, the latest iteration of the band developed when Feinstein moved to Los Angeles in 2018. Often in a state of flux when it comes to line up, the one constant is the irrepressible Feinstein, as he continues his creative goal to produce a high energy mash-up of his musical influences, which include old time, bluegrass, punk and jam band. Their irreverent take on string band roots music is thankfully underpinned by incredible prowess on multiple instruments, including acoustic guitars, banjos, mandolin and upright bass.

This new album was, incredibly, recorded in Palomino Studios in less than a day, in an attempt to capture their raw energy as they came off the back of a tour. LIVE FROM LOS ANGELES achieves this in spades, with fifteen tracks in all, and is a perfect introduction to the band for all who may be seeing them for the first time in their upcoming tour of Britain and Ireland.

This record features a bunch of traditional folk and old time songs, such as Reuben’s Train, Cotton Eyed Joe, Stay All Night, Lonesome Road Blues and Lester Flatt’s My Little Girl From Tennessee, all performed at breakneck speed and inducing a desire to get up and dance. The majority of the songs, however, are originals, mainly from the pen of Kenny Feinstein himself. California Love is a love song to the city of LA, perhaps the first cow punk rap about that town, name checking neighbourhoods like Compton and Watts, complete with grooving dual banjos and soulful harmonies! In George Washington, they take a humourous look at doomsday scenarios, after all ‘we’re all gonna die someday, and be forgotten’. When Feinstein first arrived in LA, he took to busking all day near an AM PM (a convenience store chain), and the song AM PM recounts many of his experiences there. Skante Warrior refers to a mythical character that can develop from addiction to crystal meth, and Mary Jane just might be a love song to something other than a woman of the same name. This reviewer particularly enjoyed Radio, an homage to one of life’s necessities, music radio.

The band’s current lineup is completed by Tommy Drinkard (banjo and guitar) and Jesse Blue Eades, a prodigy on bass, who brings a jazz influence into the heady mix. Don’t miss their tour, if you’re within reach of any of the venues.

Review by Eilís Boland

Edie Carey The Veil Self Release

Quite how this artist has escaped the attention of Lonesome Highway until now will have to remain one of those mysteries that linger in the ether. Edie Carey is a singer-songwriter and Folk/Roots artist who delivers her beautifully emotive music with literate lyricism and a deeply human touch. From her Boston beginnings, Carey has seen her music career blossom across time spent in New York, Europe and currently as a resident of Colorado Springs with her young family.  While studying at Colombia University in New York Carey began her interest in becoming a musician while attending concerts on campus and listening to artists like Bonnie Raitt and Shawn Colvin. A year spent in Italy saw her busking her own fledgling songs and when she returned to America, Carey released a debut album The Falling Places in 1998.

This new release marks the eleventh album in the career of this highly erudite and impressive songwriter and her talent is reflected in her engaging vocal prowess and empathic guitar playing. Carey sings in a beautifully warm tone and the rich texture of her melodies is particularly captivating, inviting the listener into a safe place of tonal colour and quiet calm.  Produced by Scott Wiley (Bonnie Raitt, Ryan Adams, Elliott Smith) at the June Audio Recording Studios in Provo, Utah, the assembled musicians that form the core studio band include the talents of Wylie himself (various keyboards and guitars), Paul Jacobsen (guitars, vocals), John Standish (piano), Stuart Maxfield (guitars, bass, viola, vocals) and Aaron Anderson (drums).

There are quite a few additional guests who contribute on various tracks, including Rose Cousins, Sarah Sample, and Megan Burtt on backing vocals. Other appearances worthy of attention are Stuart Wheeler (string arrangements), Sam Cardon (Hammond B3, Dolceola),Chad Truman (Hammond B3), Mai Bloomfield (cello, backing vocals), Cassie Olsen (cello), Emily Brown (viola), Aaron Ashton (violin), Rebecca Moench (violin), and Ryan Tilby (upright bass).

The twelve songs delve deeply into personal relationships and the sensitive territory covered is at once familiar in the recognition of places that we have all been. There is a comfort in the sharing that makes the various paths we may take seem to eventually arrive at a common destination. Carey’s soulful voice adds a real emotional punch to reflections on life, love, marriage and the challenges of parenthood. There is real intelligence and contemplation at play here, as Carey seeks to explore her vulnerability in the search for meaningful communication and a sense of belonging.

The album title song, The Veil, looks at the fragility of life from the perspective of the love of a parent, the arrival of new life in the world, and a car accident which almost took everything away. The theme of the veil runs through many of the songs, whether as a symbol of religious significance, of modesty and humility, in wedding ceremonies and mourning rituals, or of mystery and the thin line that separates the known world from that of the deep beyond. Carey muses ‘We thought that we could catch the moon, In the window of the way back.’ With these opening lines the album begins to reveal itself and considers the passage of time, the events that shape us and which can dictate our lives.

It would be easy to assume that every song is written from personal life lessons but there is a perspective that Carey uses to reflect the experiences of others in her songs which leaves it up to the listener to decide. That ability to inhabit a character in order to illustrate an emotion is a real gift and bears witness to the empathy and sensitivity that is at the core of this artist’s talents. A number of the songs no doubt draw on personal experience but the true gift here is in taking the personal and making it universal.

The Old Me is a song that looks at isolation in relationships, at what once was and the fear of verbalising frustrated feelings. Such a keenly observed portrait of loneliness. Equally The Chain looks at the challenge of keeping a relationship from sinking under. ‘Your broken language benediction, This unspoken false competition, When will we ever lay our armour down?’ – the walls we erect and the insecurities we all struggle to overcome. The Teacher looks to parenthood doubts and whether we are doing the right thing. Carey offers good counsel to be easy on yourself ‘I know those voices and all their lies, Maybe it’s time we set them all on fire.’

I Know This is written in tribute to the front-line workers during the pandemic. Those medical angels and service heroes who risked their lives on a daily basis in the care of others. Georgia is another tribute song, this time to the lasting memory of Georgia O’Keeffe painter and the "Mother of American modernism", who died in 1986. Carey reflects on her life and asks ‘I wonder, Georgia, Were you ever lonely? The silence spilling out, Endlessly before you.’

All That Space is a song written from the perspective of a woman who has lost her identity and craves freedom in a relationship in order to try and recapture her old self. The suffocation of routine pulling on everything ‘I gotta hold the wheel now, I need you to let me drive.’ Another song Who I Was highlights younger scars and the cracks that break relationships apart. There is a sense of rueful regret and also an anger in the reflections that are mirrored in the song dynamic, an angry band workout against a frustration in the lyric that raises past mistakes ‘Starved myself for what? Bargained with a God I didn’t trust, There was nothing that I didn’t try.’

This album is the essence of contemporary folk music today, mature, open, beautifully performed and delivered with such knowing and compassionate grace. A powerful display of talent and in my top albums of the year so far.

Review by Paul McGee

Sam Burton Dear Departed Partisan

A debut album, I Can Go with You, appeared in 2020 and heralded the arrival of this musician and songwriter from Salt Lake City.  Burton was also part of a local shoegaze band The Circulars in addition to joining the psyche-folk trio SYLVIE for their superb 2022 debut album.  This new solo project has the production magic of Jonathan Wilson (Father John Misty, Angel Olsen, Dawes, Margo Price) as a key influence throughout.

In the absence of any musician credits, I have to assume that Wilson and Burton are the key players on these ten songs of love and loss. There is an unhurried, languid quality and atmosphere to the vocal delivery and the lush string arrangements. A gentle album delivered in such a timeless fashion that the listener feels like part of a dream state. The melodic swell of strings lifts the relaxed and liquorice delivery of Burton to perfection. It could be 1960s dream folk and it could be stoned reverie on a sunny afternoon in the hills of some far-away place.

Burton has recently been moving around the greater Los Angeles area, including a period spent writing in a cabin in northern California. ‘The mirror of the world it is no friend of mine’ he sings on My Love and you get the sense that Burton is seeking to return to a simpler place post-Covid where he can plug into something real again. The pastoral qualities are perfect for the sense of letting go that walks the line here with lonely echoes of rueful nostalgia. The overall sound is so seductive and somewhat reminiscent of the great Jimmy Webb . I just wish that Burton had another gear that he could shift into occasionally as the similarity across the ten songs can appear repetitive. However, it is a very pleasing listening experience overall even if song titles such as I Don’t Blame You, Coming Down On Me and Empty Handed do hint at a broken heart in need of mending.

Review by Paul McGee

Lukas Nelson and PTOR Sticks and Stones 6ACE/Thirty Tigers

Since their formation back in 2008 Promise Of the Real (PTOR) has comprised Lukas Nelson (lead vocals, guitar), Anthony LoGerfo (drums, percussion), Corey McCormick (bass guitar, vocals), Logan Metz (keyboards, lap steel, guitar, harmonica, vocals), and Tato Melgar (percussion). Through constant gigging they have grown in status to being the chosen backing band of Neil Young from 2015 to 2019. Nelson also co-produced the music for the film, A Star Is Born, writing songs with Lady Gaga, and PTOR appeared in the film as Bradley Cooper's band. Nelson won a BAFTA Award for Best Original Music and a Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack.

When you add in the formative years spent learning music under the guiding hand and watchful eye of father Willie Nelson then the fact that Lukas Nelson delivers this eight studio album in some style is really no surprise. The band sound is so tightly honed after years on the road and the studio setting of Chateau Oblivion is an appropriate location for this fun romp through the twelve tracks included. Self-produced by the band, the album has plenty of tongue-in-cheek lyrics and the songs are a real slice of country cool and clever arrangements. The honky tonk groove of Every Time I Drink is typical of the dynamic here with a loose piano boogie circling around the sharp guitar motifs. The theme of getting wasted is repeated on tracks like the title, Sticks and Stones, ‘Sometimes when I’m uninspired, I take a hit to get me higher.’ Similarly, the excellent Alcohallelujah talks about ‘Sunday funday, Headache Monday’ and ‘Day drinkin’ trying to float, I can’t even drive the boat.’

More Than Frends features Lainey Wilson on co-vocal and some nicely rounded playing as the couple seek to leave friendship behind and go for the next step in their relationship. Ladder Of Love is a rockabilly workout that highlights the great band playing again while Wrong House is a song about arriving drunk at the door of a neighbour ‘Simple weekend on the town, Woke up naked on the ground.’

Icarus reminds me of a Buddy Holly song in the rhythm and vocal tones with a message about time to settle down and start producing grandkids for the parents. On the song Overpass Lukas sounds so like his father with the vocal and this is only to be expected on various tracks with the apple never falling far from the tree. Although Willie has a very distinctive guitar style I’m thinking that Lukas has probably got the drop on him when it comes to lyrical playing; his fluent guitar is really superb throughout the album and especially on this song.

The fast pace takes a break on Lying, a gentle acoustic song that speaks of a longing to be with the one you love. Lukas sings this one with such easy charm and a clarity in the delivery.  The easy theme continues on Four Winds and a melody that reminds me of Glen Campbell in his day, harmonica and lap steel adding to the rich textures. The View ends things with a simple love song about staying home with loved ones and leaving the road behind.

This is an album of celebration for the little things and for communicating with each other. There is a real sense of the band having fun and relaxing into these fine songs, never more so than on If I Didn’t Love You where the lyric says ‘Why did I call, When you were just thinkin’ of me? It’s simple serendipity, that’s all.’ No doubt that this is a band of musical brothers who dial into each other on the right wavelength and who know how to produce excellent music that is endearing in its veiled simplicity. A superb outing.

Review by Paul McGee

Jason Eady, Erin Viancourt, Caitlin Canty, Rick Hornyak, Tommy Stinson, Water Tower, Edie Carey, Sam Burton, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real.

New Album Reviews

West Texas Exiles Volume 1 Floating Mesa

This 6 track EP introduces the West Texas Exiles to an unsuspecting world. They lay out their stall on the opener Exile, which finds them planning a return to West Texas, ‘Out here tryin’ to outrun my fate/While I still got my boots on my feet’. The five band members mostly hail from Lubbock, Amarillo and El Paso in West Texas, but came together in Austin, where they play in various bands and naturally gravitated towards each other. Being from Texas, their sound is, as you would expect, country rock with the emphasis squarely on the rock. Comprising three songwriters - Colin Gilmore (son of Jimmy Dale and a solo artist in his own right), Marco Gutierrez and Daniel Davis, along with bass player/producer Eric Harrison and power drummer Trinidad Leal - between them they have the musical chops and the vocal abilities to carry off their excellent original songs. There’s a fun live feel to the production on these tracks and I suspect it is in the live shows that they really come into their own.

Hotel Tomorrow and New Moon Foe deal with fear/anxiety and depression, although always holding on to hope for the future, and all expressed in an upbeat melodious riot of guitars, keys, bass and drums. In Sweet LA they demonstrate a softer side, probably the closest they get to an almost bluegrassy/country ballad, a song of regret for a lost love, with lush harmonies, accordion and Colin Gilmore’s mandolin. The anthemic Monday Night finds them revelling in ‘working on their best bad habits’ and ’buzzin’ like that open sign’, all contributing to the impression of a ‘good time being had by all’.

The artwork on the album really impresses also, with its stylised snakes and roses.

Not surprisingly, WTXE have been touring constantly since they formed barely a year ago, and they will be showcasing at the Americana Festival in Nashville this year. I look forward to Volume 2. Ones to watch!

Review by Eilís Boland

Doug Levitt Edge of Everywhere Self Release

Doug Levitt’s debut album has been a long time coming. Twelve years and 120,000 miles traversing the US on the ubiquitous Greyhound buses has yielded this monumental album among other things, including BBC documentaries (one in 2018 and more to come later in 2023) and countless interviews on major US and British TV news programmes.

Produced by Trina Shoemaker (Emmylou, Brandi Carlile) in Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, each of the twelve songs depicts the story of one of the many characters that Levitt got to know on those interminable journeys cross country. Greyhound buses transport almost exclusively those on the margins of life, the poor, the ex-cons, the homeless, the addicted. It was a strange place to find a ‘privileged white boy’, originally from DC, a former Cornell and LSE graduate and a Fulbright scholar, who became a London based foreign correspondent in his former life. Deciding to dedicate his life to music, Levitt almost accidentally embarked on his odyssey, playing his songs in prisons, at VAs (veterans’ hospitals) and shelters. The enforced camaraderie that developed between the long distance travellers on the Greyhound buses allowed Levitt to hear the stories behind the random faces, the stories he tells with an empathy that leaps out of each track, many of them told verbatim, as he heard them.

There’s Susie who’s in her early 60s, and ‘can’t get no rest on 40 West’, driving big trucks for a living. She left her job in the Air Force years ago to look after her young son, who needed her more. ‘Long haul trips from the Gulf/18 wheels and the miles they feel like the years that roll’.

And Ellis, in Born In West Virginia, a veteran who returned home from war to feel like a stranger in his own country. Then there’s Hector, an agricultural truck driver living in El Centro, a border town in Southern California, who is wracked with guilt. Run It All Back recounts the story of how his son  is accidentally shot, and Hector blames himself because they were living in a bad area, and he ‘would give anything to run it all back’.

Through time, Levitt began to realise that he too was running - from the traumatic memories of his father’s suicide when Levitt was just 16. In Highway Signs he acknowledges that ‘I didn’t know then how those stories spoke to me…It’s a tale of so many others/just threaded through me’.

The whole album is bathed in a soothing Americana soundscape, expertly curated by Shoemaker, allowing Levitt’s tender and simultaneously strong vocals to shine through.

Explore all the songs here yourself, check out the documentaries and videos, and if you’re lucky you might even catch Levitt playing Cambridge Folk Festival at the end of July.

Review by Eilís Boland

Beth Bombara It All Goes Up Black Mesa

‘I never set out to be a lead singer, I wasn’t comfortable being in the spotlight like that’, confesses the Grand Rapid, Michigan artist Beth Bombara in the press release that accompanied this album. The encouragement to reconsider this came from the numerous fellow musicians that Bombara played with over a career that found her playing guitar, bass and percussion in a number of bands over the years. Fortunately, she heeded that advice and IT ALL GOES UP is her sixth full album, the last being the first-class EVERGREEN from 2019, which drew comparisons with Aimee Mann from ourselves at Lonesome Highway.

Her latest project, despite having been written during the dark days of the pandemic, finds Bombara in a more upbeat and optimistic headspace, without abandoning the blueprint that worked so well on its predecessor. The songs - ten in total - were written on an old classical guitar that she rediscovered stored in a closet for many years. Four were co-written with co-producer Kit Hamon, who also played bass guitar, percussion, synthesizer and added backing vocals.

Bombara’s buoyant temperament is particularly to the fore on the jaunty Tom Pettyesque Everything I Wanted. It’s the liveliest track on the album, the remaining songs being generally mid-paced with the emphasis on the carefully observed detail in the writing. Many of these songs reflect the environment they were conceived in, with references to slowing down and living in the moment (Moment, Fade) and yearning for a return to normality in the prayer-like gorgeous ballad, Lonely Walls. Overtones of loneliness and separation surface on Carry The Weight, followed by more cheerful and romantic sentiments on Electricity.

IT ALL GOES UP is not a radical departure from Bombara’s previous record, EVERGREEN. Unhurried and intimate, understandable given the period when the songs were written, it offers a most impressive batch of songs expressed with vocals that articulate both vulnerability and optimism in equal doses.

Review by Declan Culliton

Brigid O’Neill The Truth and Other Stories Self Release

We go back to 2002 to find this artist’s debut album, INLAND SAILOR. Based in Northern Ireland, Brigid O’Neill seemed to take a break from her career until a new EP of songs arrived in 2014. Another album, TOUCHSTONE appeared in 2017, followed by a further run of singles and another EP, all of which led to the release of this latest album, recorded at Skinny Elephant studios in Nashville.

The producer is the much vaunted Nielsen Hubbard and he has called upon some top musicians to bring these eleven songs to life. We are treated to the silky playing talents of  Will Kimbrough and Doug Lancio (guitars), Dan Mitchell (piano, organ and flugelhorn), Eamon McLoughlin (fiddle), Dean Marold (bass), with Neilson Hubbard also contributing drums and percussion.

Lead vocals are provided by Brigid O’Neill and she also called upon a number of musician friends to join her on backing vocals, including Siobhan Maher Kennedy, Cormac Neeson, Matt McGinn, Amy Montgomery and again, Neilson Hubbard. The album is a really pleasant listening experience with O’Neill’s voice complemented by the nuanced and interpretive playing of the gathered musicians. Her vocal tone is warm and her phrasing is full of subtle expression.

Starting with the commercial sound of Live A Little Lie Oh and the sing-along chorus, the song is both catchy and memorable for the bright production and separation on all the instruments. Definitely a radio-friendly single in the making. The mood changes dramatically on the next song Easy which is a sad, slow melody that captures the pain that a lot of people keep hidden under the façade of a brave face. ‘We see him in the local bar, he’s always on his own, He says he has more time to think when he drinks alone.’ The message is one that says ultimately, we are all alone as we go through life, looking for connection and a sense of safe harbour.

The easy melody of Ask Me In A Year features some fine guitar and piano interplay in a song about taking time to find yourself.  There is a real traditional Country sound on Prayers with some superb guitar, fiddle and mandolin interplay. Similarly, You’re Not Gonna Leave Me Honey has that Country twang of banjo, fiddle and acoustic guitar, reflecting a tale of tangled love. Messy Path slows it all down with another classic Country sound that channels the memory of Kitty Wells and a tale of heartbreak in the game of love. Again, the wonderful understated playing is just perfect for the sentiment in the song.

Leaving is a more poignant look at domestic abuse and the decision taken to accept the reality that something that’s broken cannot always be glued back together. Take A Day has a sweet arrangement and the message that sometimes what you have in life is more than enough. The slow jazz groove of Midweek Magic Club is another interesting departure and the sultry vocal and noír feel to the music dangles the promise of hidden pleasures that lie in store.

Amelia looks at a new life in the world and the joy of love, hope and the infinite possibility that a baby brings. The final song Pilot’s Weather is the ideal way to bring everything home with a lovely arrangement that includes some beautiful flugelhorn courtesy of Dan Mitchell, strummed guitars and a message to always follow your own instincts when looking for your own path. This is a very impressive album from a very talented Irish artist who has written some excellent songs and assembled an elite band of wonderful musicians to bring her vision to reality. Highly recommended.

Review by Paul McGee

Bonny Doon Let There Be Music Anti-

This is the third release from a trio that was formed in  Detroit, Michigan. The band consists of Jake Kmiecik (drums), Bill Lennox (guitar, vocals) and Bobby Colombo (guitar, vocals). Although the musicians now reside in different parts of America, they still retain their love of creating music together and despite recent setbacks, including illness and hold ups in their creative process due to touring commitments as the backing band for Waxahatchee (songwriter Katie Crutchfield), three friends have produced a very exciting new album.

The blissed out sound of Maybe Today typifies their sweetly undulating melodies and harmonies with additional piano courtesy of Michael Malis. His contributions on keyboards cannot be understated as the song structures are brought to living colour by some understated layering and up-tempo dynamics. It is the twin song-writing talents and guitar prowess of Colombo and Lennox that drives the creative process but the drumming and percussion of Kmiecik anchors everything in order for these gentle sounds to take flight.

It could be California in the 1960s with everyone wearing flowers in their hair, such is the sense of space and time on these tracks. Fine Afternoon is an example with its easy melody and light arrangement –  however it masks the lines ‘That I’m always searching for the thing that’s right under my nose, That I’m looking for a rainbow while I’m pissing in a pot of gold.’ Dreaming of a better tomorrow while today continues to unravel.

The theme of being close to falling apart at the seams is never far away in the underlying sentiment even though there is also a river of hope running through the soul of these songs. The title track has the lines ‘ Let there be kindness, Let there be fun, Let there be lightness, In everyone.’ Also, in the song San Francisco that sense of inclusion surfaces with ‘Everybody’s waiting, Everybody’s got a dream, Everybody’s looking for what they’ve never seen.’   

However, on the song You Can’t Stay the Same the clock is ticking on life and there is still so much to be achieved ‘No matter how you play the game, No matter what you try to tame, No matter how you run from change, You can’t stay the same.’ The music has a timeless quality to it, despite the message that change is inevitable and the production by the band and Brian Fox is flawless. A very enticing and engaging album.

Review by Paul McGee

Jeff Larson It’ll Never Happen Again Melody Place

This 6-track EP is in tribute to the great songwriting talent of Tim Hardin, the famous musician and composer who died at the young age of thirty nine. Tim Hardin had many highlights during a career that included a Woodstock appearance and many accolades, including a tribute from Bob Dylan, who was inspired by Hardin’s songs.

Jeff Larsson has been releasing music the 1990s and his honeyed vocal tone has always been a standout feature across a discography that includes many fine albums. In 2000 he released a forty-three track compilation of his work up to that date, which is the perfect place to start if you are new to his music. He grew up in San Francisco and has collaborated with Gerry Beckley, a founding member of the band America, in previous years. Indeed, this project was suggested and produced by Beckley, who also plays a number of instruments on the six chosen tracks. Included are the great hit songs Reason To Believe and If I Were A Carpenter both of which have been covered by numerous artists over time. Perhaps less well known are the other songs , It'll Never Happen Again, Don't Make Promises, Misty Roses and How Can We Hang On To A Dream.

On this tribute, Misty Roses is given a light Bossa Nova arrangement that works particularly well and It’ll Never Happen Again has a jazz-tinged slow groove, with Rick Braun (trumpet) and Jonathan Zwartz (bass) providing key contributions to the lovely melody. How Can We Hang On To A Dream includes Matt Beckley (backwards electric guitar), Jim Hoke (flute), Austin Hoke (cello) and Kristin Weber (violin), string arrangement by Gerry Beckley and the beautiful timeless vocal of Jeff Larson bringing everything to a perfect conclusion.

Across these songs Jeff Larson contributes lead vocals and acoustic guitar while Gerry Beckley juggles piano, acoustic and electric guitars, organ, accordion, strings bass, drums, supported by the additional talents of Joachim Cooder (electric mbira, drums, percussion), and Matt Combs (mandola, fiddle). The EP was recorded at studios in Sydney, Australia and Southern California. There is definitely room to turn this into a fully-fledged album release, given the amount of quality material to draw from, but for now this is a very tasty sampler and worthy of your attention.

Review by Paul McGee

Bill Price Kicking Angels Grass Magoops

Four songs and nineteen minutes of music on this EP from a very talented singer songwriter based in Indianapolis, Indiana.  This is his most recent project and past releases have all celebrated the dedication that Price has to the creative process. He is also a successful graphic designer and creates all his own album cover artwork.

All four songs deal with the abuse of power and question the short-sighted focus on the need for self-promotion above all else. The welfare of the common man gets pushed down the line and in the overall order of things, counts for little. Produced at The Lodge Recording Studios in Indianapolis, the songs are very much alive and engaging. The vocal style of Price reminds me of Tom Petty and his righteous anger comes to the fore on the first song Kicking Angels with the observation that ‘Angels don’t dream small, We know wings trump walls.’  A nice lyrical segue. Political hubris and spin will not convince everyone of apparent sincerity and all that is false in the kingdom of the blind.

50 Miles From Nowhere follows the core theme with an attack on winning at all costs ‘they think that he’s made history by the wars that he has won, but a man’s name will be weighed by every deed he’s done.’ Be Nice Or Get Out has a nice string introduction before electric guitars come into the arrangement and lay down a rocking groove that includes some nice slide guitar and harmony vocals in the middle eight section. Again, a message of the need for tolerance if we are all to progress as an enlightened race.  Final song Bringing Down the Sun is a dreamy song with flugelhorn and cello mixed with some sweet electric guitar lines. A very interesting EP and one that will have me reaching out to other recording from this accomplished artist.

Review by Paul McGee

Malcolm Holcombe Bits and Pieces Proper

North Carolina native and prolific songwriter Malcolm Holcombe has seen it all and done more than most in a career that has spanned close on thirty years. His craft has been lauded by many of his contemporaries in Roots music circles and comparisons have been made to both John Prine and Tom Waits. Of course, there is really nobody to compare to the unique spirit and talent of Malcolm Holcombe. When it comes to authenticity then this man is the real deal. Who was it that said “comparison is the thief of joy,” - perhaps Teddy Roosevelt was onto something back then?

On this new release, Holcombe is joined by multi-instrumentalist Jared Taylor who has been a regular collaborator over the years, playing regularly with him and producing a number of prior albums. Holcombe sings with an authentic rasp in his vocal, as if he’s so fed up with all that he sees surrounding him, that he just has to spit out the bad taste in his mouth. These thirteen songs were written during 2021 and they portray various aspects of his world view, often portrayed through characters in different life situations. The power of observation in something that Holcombe has in common with all the great songwriters and if there is a little bit of himself in many of the song characters, then all the better for the perspective.

Holcombe sings of people on the edge of normality, the fringe of what counts as acceptable; the dealers, gamblers, hustlers, thieves and down-at-heels in society. Holcombe also trains his sights on the powerful enclaves that dictate the lives of those who survive by doing what they must; the politicians and businessmen whose only god is avarice and the accumulation of wealth. In this sense, he represents a modern-day Woody Guthrie, with a righteous anger and a wake-up call to those who deal in causing misery.

On Conscience Of Man he declares ‘I will not hide from the words of justice, I will not join the cries of liars, I will not keep my heart from climbing from the dust I swallowed behind.’ Equally, on Rubbin’ Elbows he takes a swipe at social climbers and those who seek entry to the club of easy living, ‘Woncha grease my palm, Slap me on the back, Meet my younger sister and kiss my ass.’

On this album, Holcombe’s eighteenth, I have the impression that the process is every bit as important as the end product. In 2022, Holcombe was diagnosed with cancer and he decided to enter the studio with his friend to get these songs recorded. Holcombe was at home in Echo Mountain studios, Ashville, NC and the therapeutic gains for the musicians in the playing process no doubt brought a sense of acceptance and calm to the battle faced against illness. The song, The Wind Doesn’t Know You, touches on the concept of time passing with the lines, ‘It’s an everyday battle wakin’ up in the morning, With the rattle and the hustles of the cars, and the warnin’ of the pressure every measure of the clock ticking forward.’

The interplay between the two musicians is incredible and really kicks up a storm when they are in full flight. There is great clarity and space on the production, which Jared Taylor shared with Brian Brinkerhoff. Holcombe has a fascinating guitar style that mixes fingerstyle picking with percussive elements that colour the playing. If you check out some of his Shed Shows on social media then you will be able to witness the true essence of this national treasure. He even plays some of these shows with a visible nasal cannula, attached to a mobile oxygen canister, while he was still in recovery. Happily, the news is positive and Holcombe is now in remission.

This is acoustic blues, mixed with plenty of roots leanings in folk music traditions and beyond. Long may this gritty survivor keep holding up a mirror to modern society and maintain a necessary presence in our lives. Do yourself a favour and purchase this essential and vibrant music.

Review by Paul McGee

Andrew Hawkey Hindsight Mole Lodge

This collection is sub titled ‘ Andrew Hawkey at 80 - A Fifty Year Overview.’ The album cover art leaves much to be desired, but that apart, we are given a total of seventeen songs to celebrate a talent that flourished from London to rural Wales, mainly in the late 1960s through to the 1980s. Indeed, thirteen of the tracks included here cover that period, with the opening five taken from early cassette recordings. It brought me back to my own youth, hearing tape hiss again, and although the songs themselves possess an innocent quality to the lyrics and a fragile sound, it left me wondering if such an authentic approach ultimately serves the end product?

No doubt, Andrew Hawkey moved in very worthy circles back then and played with numerous talented musicians. His guitar playing is certainly very expressive and while mainly falling into the acoustic arena, his ability on other instruments is featured as the collection develops to include harmonica, electric guitar, and keyboards. Hawkey spent two decades playing in a blues band, Pat Grover’s Blues Zeros, represented here by a singular track dating back to 1994, with a cover of Sonny Boy Williamson’s classic Help Me.  A temporary sojourn in France followed the disbandment of this band, together with the closure of the Cambria Arts music venue which was run by Hawkey. Indeed over his career, Hawkey has worn many hats, from solo artist and writer, to promoter and producer.

It is a diverse collection which reflects the many twists and turns that fate threw his way, with a number of different genres influencing the choices, from acoustic folk to blues and rock with side projects including writing for films. An instrumental track Desert Moon channels a Mark Knopfler style and the sultry vocals of Jane Gilbert on Take Me highlight a suggestive, sexy performance over a repeating keyboard melody. A song that leaves little to the imagination.

In 2015, after a break of many years, Hawkey released a solo album, What Did I Come Up Here For? He followed this with another solo project in 2020 and the release of Long Story Short. The final three songs represent where Hawkey now finds himself with Spirit representing his singer-songwriter origins and a nice acoustic based melody that looks at a message of both contentment and peace. A reworking of opening track Between Two Horizons follows and yields a much more engaging version with a look back down the path and a reflective vocal performance. The project ends on a short instrumental Just the Sky featuring simple harmonica and guitar in a brief contemplation on what has passed and what the future may hold.

As with any such anthology, there are uneven parts that stop the natural flow across the songs but then again the true spirit of any such collection is to show the artist in all the various forms and configurations of his career. The journey has been a long one and the information booklet included contains well researched notes at every stage, highlighting many of the local bands that inspired and influenced along the way. Not for everyone, but the easy representation of folk, Americana and blues will appeal to those who have grown up with a knowledge of Andrew Hawkey and his music.

Review by Paul McGee

West Texas Exiles, Doug Levitt, Beth Bombara, Brigid O'Neill Music, Bonny Doon, Jeff Larson Music, Malcolm Holcombe

New Album Reviews

Colter Wall Little Songs La Honda/RCA

Although still in his late twenties, this is the fourth studio album from Saskatchewan-born singer songwriter Colter Wall. With a deep baritone voice and real-life tales of rural life in his prairie homelands, Wall has established himself as one of if not the most distinguished authors writing about present-day cowboy and ranch lifestyle.

LITTLE SONGS finds Wall sticking close to the template of his previous three albums, and why leave his comfort zone given their quality and distinctiveness? The recording occurred at Yellowdog Studios in Wimberly, Texas, where he also recorded his 2020 album, WESTERN SWING & WALTZES and OTHER PUNCHY SONGS. Wall co-produced with Patrick Lyons, who also played pedal steel, mandolin, bass and dobro. The ten tracks on the album include eight original songs and two covers very much in keeping with the album’s narrative, one written by his fellow countryman Ian Tyson, The Coyote and The Cowboy and the other is a Hoyt Axton and Kenneth Higginbotham co-write, Evangelina.

Wall has seldom had to look beyond his native Western Canada for inspiration and his stories at no time attempt to glamorise its subject matter. The title track speaks of isolation and remoteness (‘You might not see a soul for days on them high and lonesome plains, you got to fill the big empty with little songs’) and that sense of loneliness also surfaces on Corralling The Blues. The perilous adventure of yesteryear’s cattle drives is evoked in The Last Loving Words (‘Two thousand longhorn cattle, some eighteen good men in the saddle. We knew of the dangers, me and that old ranger’). The closest Wall gets to breaking into full song is on the upbeat barroom blues of Honky Tonk Nighthawk and he parades his yodeling skills on the jocular Cow Calf Yodel. The opening track, Prairie Evening / Sage Brush Waltz, reminisces about plucking up the courage to woo his sweetheart at the local prairie dance.

A dynamic storyteller, Walls’s proficiency in giving the listener a tour of his beloved native soil is unparalleled among songwriters of his generation. His sober tales hark back to both previous eras and to the modern-day cowboy and rancher. Unsurprisingly, three of his songs have been featured in the Paramount TV series, Yellowstone, another project that highlights the growing interest and current attraction in the ranching and cowboy way of life.

LITTLE SONGS is another excellent effort from Wall and one that has ’career best’ stamped all over it, which is some feat given the merit of his previous work. Don’t take my word for it, check it out yourself, I’m sure you’ll concur.

Review by Declan Culliton

Milly Raccoon Frankincense and Myrrh Self Release

Drawn to classic violin playing as a young girl, Milly Raccoon’s musical adventure since then has been a rollercoaster ride.  From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and currently living in Nashville, her passions over the years have found her engrossed in 90s rock, Irish trad music and zydeco, fronting a Grateful Dead cover band in high school, absorbed in bluegrass after college and spending eighteen months on the road, busking for the bus fare to her next destination. With that chequered background, you’d expect this album to genre-swing from one place to another, and that’s exactly what it does, most impressively it has to be said.

It’s her fourth full-length album and although the press release that accompanied it makes comparisons to Norah Jones and Iris DeMent, neither of those references particularly struck me. What did come across on my first play was a charming patchwork collection that oscillates between traditional instrumentals, country-tinged jazz and alt-folk songs.

At the tender heart of the album is the opener The Fine Art of Takin’ it Slow.  It’s a laid-back affair that finds Milly in fine voice and all the better for some cool layered vocals and a slick guitar break mid-song. Her Irish trad influences rise to the surface on Persephone la Rousse and the instrumental Fiddler’s Prayer. That Celtic mood also pops up on the gorgeous ballad and album highlight Offering To The Fae and she lays bare her bashfulness in the playful That Girl I Left Behind. The second instrumental, Las Abuelitas del Arcoíris, is a Latin-shaped cosmopolitan affair, showcasing Milly’s fiddle skills and her vocals shine on the romantic ballad This Ancient Love.

Grammy-winning producer and previously former bandmate of Kacy Musgraves, Misa Arriaga, was brought on board as producer and he succeeds in joining all the dots and capturing the mood on the, often, fun-filled and carefree tracks.

Beauty is often born out of chaos and that’s certainly the case with this charming record. Unlike anything else I’ve heard this year, FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH is not going to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, but if you’re around Nashville and Milly is playing Dee’s Cocktail Lounge or any other local establishment, you’re well advised to pop along. I’ll certainly be doing that on my next trip to Nashville.

Review by Declan Culliton

Erin Enderlin Barroom Mirrors Black Crow

Hugely admired by her peers - Roseanne Cash and Terri Clark both feature on this album - Arkansas-born Erin Enderlin ticks all the boxes as a classic modern country artist. A singer, songwriter, and performer, she also possesses an image that should warrant much more media attention and radio play than she currently enjoys. Her songs have been recorded by Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Lee Ann Womack and Reba McEntire and, given her talent, you would expect that her profile would be at a much more elevated level.

BARROOM MIRRORS is her latest self-produced record and it doesn’t stray too far from the sound of her first-rate 2017 album, FAULKNER COUNTY. Readers familiar with her music will have already heard five of these tracks on her self-released EP of the same name from 2021.The majority of the eleven songs on the new album take their lead from the album’s title with their drinking and bar references, no doubt fuelled by Enderlin’s observations in bars and honky tonks on her tireless touring schedules.

Terri Clark joins her on the perky If There Weren’t So Many Dawn Songs, co-written by Enderlin and Kayla Ray. As previously mentioned, there are plenty of ‘tears in your beer’ songs, or something stronger in the case of When I’M Drinking Whiskey. A tale of heartache enriched by fine pedal steel from Justin Schipper, it’s one that’s bound to be picked up and covered by others. It also features, along with other tracks, a contribution from the ‘go-to’ backing vocalist in Nashville, Melonie Cannon. Enderlin is also ‘counting bubbles in her beer’ on the equally sorrowful title track. It’s not all doom and gloom either, Somebody’s Shot Of Whiskey is a defiant upbeat toe-tapper featuring some fine fiddle playing by Jenee Fleenor and White Wine Fever (yes, another booze reference!) is a clever and chirpy album opener. She signs off with the confessional and autobiographical Livin’ For Today. It’s a candid and realistic reflection on the often-taxing existence of her chosen career path (‘It will be all right to be just ok, not worry about tomorrow, I’m livin’ for today’).

The tide is turning slowly again in the direction of traditional country music. Hopefully, artists like Erin Enderlin, Brennen Leigh, and Sunny Sweeney, all of whom have been working tirelessly for many years, will get the industry recognition that they richly deserve. On the strength of this delightfully accessible listen, it’s the least that Enderlin deserves.

Review by Declan Culliton

Dallas Burrow Blood Brothers Soundly

Very much an artist that writes from the heart and personal experience, Texan Dallas Burrow’s two previous albums, SOUTHERN WIND from 2019, and his self-titled record that followed two years later, reflected moments in time in his often turbulent and evolving existence. If the former addressed the emergence from a self-inflicted emotional wilderness and his path toward sobriety, the latter found Burrow in an altogether better place, underpinned by abstinence and fatherhood.

Music has been in Burrow’s veins from a young age. His father, Mike Burrow, hosted shows at a pub he managed in Elliston Place, close to the Exit /In in midtown Nashville, whose patrons included Richard Dobson and Townes Van Zandt. The adulation of Townes has been handed down from father to son and has been hugely inspirational in Burrow’s songwriting. His latest album includes a cover of Townes’ Mr. Mud and Mr. Gold and also features a song written by his father, X Old Flames, the layered vocals on the song performed by both father and son. 

While not straying too far from the direction of the two previous albums, the thirteen songs on BLOOD BROTHERS have a more polished sound production-wise, no doubt aided by the input of Jonathan Tyler (Nikki Lane, Jeremy Pinnell, Lana Del Ray), who took control, alongside Burrow, of the production duties. Personal plights are once again visited in the songs but the canvas is also spread wider with environmental, political and social issues confronted. He opens with the upbeat River Town. It’s a statement by the writer of his contentment with family life and is followed by the equally spirited Starry Eyes, which is probably the most melodic, radio-friendly song Burrow has written. It’s also one that’s likely to stick in your memory bank for some time after a couple of spins, it most certainly did with me. It features Taylor Rae on backing vocals, who also lends a hand on several other tracks including the raging full-on album closer, True Believer. The recurring theme of solo touring, often fulfilling, sometimes not, is told on Motel 6. Also impressive is Only Game In Town, a co-write with Charley Crockett that was included on Crockett’s MUSIC CITY USA album. That song may be closer in sound to New Orleans than Austin, but the gloriously rowdy Wild Bill is full-on Texas country.

A dynamic storyteller, Burrow has turned the heat up many notches with BLOOD BROTHERS, which should further his growing reputation as a worthy disciple of the classic Texan songwriters of previous generations.

Review by Declan Culliton

Melonie Cannon A Tribute To Vern Gosdin BFD

Nashville-based singer Melonie Cannon is a member of a family steeped in country music. Her songwriter and producer father, Buddy Cannon, has written songs for George Strait and Mel Tillis, as well as producing albums by George Jones, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson and Reba McEntire. Also following a career in music is her sister, singer songwriter, Marla Cannon-Goodman.

Although Melonie has only recorded two solo albums, MELONIE CANNON (2004) and AND THE WHEELS TURN (2008), her crystalline vocals appear on albums recorded by Jamey Johnson, Willie Nelson, Billy Ray Cyrus and Alison Krauss, to name but a few. She was an inspired choice to celebrate the music of the celebrated country singer Vern Gosdin, who passed away in 2009, leaving an extensive songbook of classic country songs.

An early-career member of The Hillmen, alongside Chris Hillman, Gosdin also went on to record, with his brother Rex, the excellent GENE CLARK WITH THE GOSDIN BROTHERS in 1967. His commercial impact as a solo country artist yielded nineteen top ten hits between 1977 and 1990 and the high regard that he was held in by his peers - they nicknamed him ‘The Voice - is recognised by the number of high-profile contributors on this recording. It’s fitting that Melonie Cannon should be chosen to acknowledge the often-overlooked talent of Gosdin, given that he can take credit for mentoring and encouraging her to sing solo and harmonies, and develop her musical vocation.

A pointer to the character of Gosdin’s songwriting is how well-suited the songs are delivered from a female perspective, and even more so on the duets unveiled on this recording. Jim Lauderdale and Cannon do a cracking ‘George and Tammy’ on the full-on honky tonk Dim Lights Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud Music) and Cody Jinks’ husky vocals are the perfect fit alongside Cannon’s on Set Em’ Up Joe. Vince Gill, Jamey Johnson, Doyle Lawson, Alison Krauss and Willie Nelson also participate, with Nelson in splendid voice on Till The End. Cannon is equally impressive and in fine voice on her solo runs, both tearjerkers, Is It Rainin’ At Your House and Dream Of Me are impeccably executed, and she says her goodbyes with the well-chosen jazzy closing track, Is It That Time Again. The album showcases impeccable instrumentation by a host of players from start to finish. Those artists include Willie Nelson and Vince Gill, who played acoustic guitar and dobro respectively as well as their vocal contributions. Also credited are the late Bucky Baxter on steel guitar, co-producers Buddy Cannon (bass, acoustic guitar) and Butch Carr (percussion).

Be warned, Gosdin didn’t write ‘happy ending’ songs and the thirteen selected are route-one country heartbreakers.  So, if you’re feeling low, it may be wise to have the hankies close by. In summary, the album is a worthy reminder of Vern Gosdin’s significant contribution as a songwriter and one that should encourage listeners to investigate his back catalogue. It’s also heartwarming to hear Melonie Cannon in such great voice, and hopefully it’s also the re-birth of her career as a solo recording artist.

Review by Declan Culliton

Dave Desmelik There And Then (July 1992-December 1994) Self-Release

Two and a half decades into his career and eighteen albums later, THERE AND THEN (JULY 1992-DECEMBER 1994) is most likely the most soul-searching and subjective album that the Brevard, North Carolina resident Dave Desmelik has recorded. It may consist of only five tracks and run for slightly over thirty minutes, but the tales within the songs reflect on an intense, taxing, and ultimately character-building period for the writer as he sets out on what was to become his vocation.

Desmelik’s writing and vocals bring to mind Bright Eyes, Jim White and former Richmond Fontaine’s frontman, Willy Vlautin. He rarely wastes words with repeated choruses, and if asked to simply characterise this album I’d probably make reference to those three artists, but also quote the experimental and alternative sound of Radiohead and early Pink Floyd in snatches.

The album covers the entire range of emotions and sensitivities of a young person seeking independence and freedom, and the experiences, both demeaning and uplifting, on that journey. The opener, Me And Bob Marley, sets the scene for what follows over the subsequent chapters which are arranged in chronological order. That first track tells of the writer’s dreams of a new life and new horizons (‘I thought I might try growing a beard, that would be something a little bit different for me’), moving out of town accompanied by little but his treasured music collection of Bob Marley, Grateful Dead, Duane Allman, Pink Floyd (no surprise there) and many more. It’s presented in a folky manner with Desmelik’s vocals in front of a heavily strummed acoustic guitar. Rand McNally, which follows, is the most mainstream song in the collection. Its melody is a reflection of the enthusiasm of a planned journey being choreographed using Rand McNally maps – remember this is some years before the birth of Google Maps! – and includes some slick banjo playing by Bow Thayer.

If those two tracks are somewhat musically conventional, what follows enters a more enthralling universe, possibly reflecting the odyssey into the unknown. Risking blends together elements of alt-folk and musical virtuosity bordering on prog rock. That track may be eight minutes in length, but the album’s tour da force, Crazy Life, qualifies as the longest track at close to ten minutes. Brim-full of texture and detail, it serves as a ‘catch up’ for the listener by recapping the author’s mournful story, warts and all (‘I discovered this town with my guitar on my back, I slept in the cemetery behind campus where I felt safest when it got dark’). The final instalment, New Chapter, is an altogether more positive affair that heralds the final leg, however temporarily, in the journey.

Attentive listening is the key to maximum return with THERE AND THEN.  Preferably listened to with headphones, the time invested is well rewarded on an album where its author dug deeply into his memory vaults to capture the mood of those often daunting and occasionally carefree two years with some aplomb. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Teddy Thompson My Love Of Country Chalky

Back in 2007 Teddy Thompson released an album of country music covers on the Verve label titled UPFRONT & DOWN LOW. It was one of my albums of the year and it still sounds great. When I interviewed him around its release he told me his label had said that it was effectively “career suicide” and they wouldn’t release its like again. Well, Thompson is no longer on Verve and he has just released another album of country music covers. And folks, I can tell you it’s well up to that previous album and it is another triumph.

One of the players back then was David Mansfield who played on three tracks. This time out Mansfield is the producer and he brings a touch that could have easily seen him behind the desk several decades ago. As the title suggests, Thompson has a deep love of classic era 60s country stylings and Mansfield taps into that, not only behind the desk but also by bringing his multi-instrumentalist talents along. He is joined by a tight combo of Charlie Drayton on drums, bassist Byron Isaacs and Jon Cowherd on piano. Thompson stands before the microphone and delivers a nuanced and emotionally passionate vocal performance. But he is not alone, with such notables as Vince Gill, Rodney Crowell, Aoife O’Donnell, Krystle Warren and Logan Ledger joining him on harmonies, alongside some additional background singers, that makes this a vocal rich album.

The song choices are a mix of the familiar and the less so, but all chosen as they have a distinct resonance for Thompson and are equally well suited to what seems like an effortless vocal. But that is likely far from the actuality, as he undoubtedly wanted to do justice both to the original singers but also to the lyrics and their sense of regret and unresolved romance. Even though the songs are from what may be considered a golden age of country, the arrangement and delivery of each song changes to give both variety and vibrancy to each of these carefully chosen pieces.

So A Picture Of Me Without You, written by Norro Wilson and George Richey and recorded by George Jones, opens the album and sets the tone for what follows. Bill Anderson is then credited with the conundrum that is I Don’t Love You Anymore, Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard together wrote the tower of pity that is I Fall To Pieces. Love And Learn is a lesser know Dolly Parton song written by Bill Owens, while Crying Time was penned by Buck Owens. The often recorded tale of realising what is really true and worthwhile in life, Joe ‘Red’ Hayes and Jack Rhodes’ Satisfied Mind, it is given as convincing a take as any of the previously equally worthy versions. Is It Still Over has some clever wordplay on a song recorded by Randy Travis. I’ll Regret It All In The Morning may be from a slightly different era than many of the others, as it was written by his father, Richard Thompson. And so it goes, with ten deliberately chosen songs that, in the context of this excellent album, did not entice me to make direct comparisons to earlier versions, but instead allowed me to simply enjoy the album inspired by Thompson’s passion for the sentiments and sensuality of a musical style so obviously loved. Even though this is something of a stop gap recording before he moves on to another album of original material, it in no way should be regarded as anything but a central part of his own rich musical legacy.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Christian Parker Sweethearts Edgewater

First thoughts: with the release of the Legacy edition of the original album that restored Gram Parsons’ vocal on a set of bonus tracks, and taking in to account the fact that is is considered such a iconic and inspirational album, it begs the question do we need a tribute album to the entire album? However, once you start to listen you can’t help but be reminded of the original album, an album that was largely a source of confusion for many hard-core Byrds fans at the time, despite the fact that previous albums had contained tracks that were clear antecedents for the style. It was largely Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons who championed this move toward a more full-blown country influenced recording. Indeed, that duo later formed The Flying Burritos Brothers to further explore that direction. Not that the continuing Roger McGuinn version of The Byrds abandoned the form themselves, especially when Clarence White joined the band.

So this tribute is fronted by Christian Parker, alongside co-producer (and pianist of the original album) Earl Poole Ball. Also appearing on a couple of tracks is one the album’s steel guitar players, Jay Dee Maness. The other steel player on that album was Lloyd Green. Incidentally, they both released their own tribute album back in 2018, titled JOURNEY TO THE BEGINING. That recording also featured the piano of Earl Poole Ball. All showing that these veterans and their fellow musicians here are no strangers to the album. There are in fact 16 players listed in the credits, with no less than 3 pedal steel players included. Parker is lead vocalist and plays acoustic and B Bender electric guitar. 

Parker was born in 1968, the year of the album’s release, and first heard the album when he was 16 and it obviously made a deep impact. And as you play through the album you become aware of the differences that this album brings to the choice of songs. They largely follow the order of the earlier version. They have interestingly also added three additional, equally well know songs in I Still Miss Someone, Satisfied Mind and Drugstore Truck Driving Man. These are delivered as if they were recorded back in the late 60s, as in truth, are all the tracks.

Parker is not an artist I recall coming across previously, though he has had a long career and has released some 6 previous albums under his own name. Coming from upstate New York, he was a member of Waydown Wailers. This is perhaps his first full on country rock album, something he has an affinity for and a path he may logically explore in the future.

As regards standout tracks, you are immediately feeling the overall vibe from You Ain’t Going Nowhere, from Tracer James’ affecting pedal steel that summons Lloyd Green’s own on the original, alongside Poole’s ebullient piano work. Maness is also repeating his performance here on The Christian Life. Parker is particularly poignant in his vocal performance on You Don’t Miss Your Water. Perhaps the finest song from the original album is Parson’s ballad Hickory Wind, here Jennifer Kessler’s violin and harmony vocal are a perfect balance to Parker’s, very much in the mould of eternal duo of Gram and Emmylou and again James’ steel is paramount. The inclusion of Satisfied Mind is effective, bringing it into line with the tracks that were part of the initial album, though the song was written by Joe ‘Red’ Hayes and Jack Rhodes rather than Porter Wagoner as listed in the sleeve note. Similarly his version of Drugstore Truck Driving Man was taken from a later Byrds album, but becomes a fitting closing track here.

I may have had certain doubts, as noted above, which may be valid to many devotees of the original recordings but, either as a reminder of The Byrds version or as a piece of country-rock in its own right, this outing this is worth more than a passing listen and hopefully Parker will be in a position to play this album live too. I know also that both McGuinn and Hillman have been playing some of these songs accompanied by Marty Stuart and The Fabulous Superlatives to positive reviews. That both entities are bringing a seminal album before a younger audience, who may not have heard them before, is positive and rewarding and may open a door to some more cosmic country stylings, as there are already a number of bands now delving into that particular Pandora’s box of 12 string guitar and pedal steel delights.

Review by Stephen Rapid

L CON The Isolator Idée Fixe

Progressive Folk is a genre defined as a style of contemporary Folk that adds new layers of musical and lyrical complexity, often incorporating various ethnic influences. A very appropriate description when it comes to the music of L CON, or Lisa Conway. She defines herself as a songwriter, producer and sonic adventurer and the experimental nature of these ten tracks certainly moves close to that description. There are layers of synthesiser and looped sounds among the instruments that include a variety of percussive sounds, piano, woodwinds and alphorns, traditional wooden horns from her native Switzerland, together with strings mixed into the lush soundscapes.

Conway has a sweetly soothing voice that has an ethereal quality and is placed high in the self-production of the project that took shape in an Ontario recording studio and at her home. The lyrics are very obtuse but there is a sense of isolation, as the title of the album suggests. It was written during the Covid lockdown so that alone gives a strong sense of the influences that were at play. There is a theme of looking for connection also that runs through the songs, searching for meaning in a time when no real direction or certainty can be given.

Song titles such as Big Pile Of Nothing, Appear, Hold and Ordinary Girl don’t really convey the different musical sounds on the album. The title track is the lushest as regards an arrangement with swirling strings filling the space. Too Much on the other hand has dissonant sounds mixing with violin and ‘found sounds’ that give a feeling of alienation. What If Heidi Likes the City is a song that reflects on the isolation of rural life after leaving a city culture.

My information includes no musician credits apart from the fact that contributions were made by, among others, Drew Jurecka, Cedric Noel, Karen Ng, Victoria Cheong, Isla Crain, and Morgan Doctor. Alphorn, Tape Loop One opens the album and Alphorn Tape Loop Two closes it with instrumental soundscapes that are both haunting and somewhat sonorous in the delivery. It is a challenging album, with some lovely pastoral qualities but also some jumps into the realm of avant garde experimentation. Folk music by another name perhaps?     

Review by Paul McGee

New Album Reviews

Simeon Hammond Dallas Make It Romantic Self Release

This 5 track EP from Londoner Simeon Hammond Dallas is my introduction to her music (she has an earlier EP from 2019) and what an introduction! The sassy, diminutive Camden native will not be under the radar for much longer. Her music, which is impossible to pigeonhole, is a mix of blues, soul, jazz and country - and her powerful vocals, songwriting and musicianship are notable.

Opening with a searing critique of the very recognisable cliché of a white man singing the blues in The Blues Is A Game, she doesn’t hold back in telling him in no uncertain terms that he has no idea what it is to ‘wake up in fear of your life’. Pete Fraser on sax and Max O’Hara on piano help create the swinging, jazzy, musical palette, while SHD herself impresses on lead electric guitar. The tongue in cheek A Hundred Lovers is soaked in Hammond organ (O’Hara again) and driven by Wesley Joseph’s drumming as we hear that Dallas ‘has a hundred lovers and none of them stay’. She shows her vulnerable side on the gentler Betting On You, but the fury of a woman scorned is unleashed in full rock mode in F***ing Her, which unfortunately is too explicit for our radio show! Never fear though, she really is a romantic at heart, confirmed by the simply beautiful, piano-heavy title track, where she declares she ‘dances to her own tune’ and that she’s ‘always running/trying to find some truth’. I wish her luck on that journey.

Review by Eilís Boland

Logan Halstead Dark Black Coal Thirty Tigers

Like John Prine and Hazel Dickens two generations ago, followed by Kathy Mattea, and more recently Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers and Billy Strings, Logan Halstead was moved to make music by the legacy of ill health, environmental destruction and, latterly, the rise of opioid addiction in the coal mining regions of his native Appalachia. Still only 19 years of age, Halstead had the wisdom to chose producer Lawrence Rothman (Margo Price, Amanda Shires) to record this debut record in Nashville’s Sound Emporium studios last year.

Dark Black Coal is a song that astonishingly he wrote at 15, and it became a viral YouTube hit when he released the simple video (just him and his guitar, standing in front of a river in his native Boone town, W Virginia) in 2020. Rothman has used a ‘barely there’ style of production, allowing Halstead’s songs to stand on their own two feet, resulting in a raw and somewhat visceral sound, that is almost relentlessly bleak. ‘Take my soul/I owe it to you anyways’, is the message from a coal miner to his company on the title track, sung simply here again by Halstead, accompanied by just his acoustic Martin guitar. Elsewhere, he is accompanied by Dennis Crouch (bass), Kristin Weber (fiddle) and Ethan Ballinger (mandolin), all experienced session musicians who know when to hold back, as much as when to soar. On the short opening song, Good Ol’ Boys with Bad Names, Weber’s scratchy fiddle tone and Crouch’s ominous bass stylings help to create a gothic darkness appropriate to the theme of drug addiction, with its ‘snorting and stealing/drinking and dealing’. Indeed, that theme and it’s inextricable link with coal mining is the fuel for seven of the nine originals, including Uneven Ground (Arlo McKinley guests on vocals), Man’s Gotta Eat, and Coal River. Even his choice of cover songs, The Flood from the pen of his friend Cole Chaney, and the much covered Richard Thompson classic 1952 Vincent Black Lightning, are ballads recounting tragedies of epic proportions. Relief, at last, comes in the form of two deceptively simple love songs, Kentucky Sky and Mountain Queen.

Logan Halstead is one to watch, as his horizons expand beyond his tiny hometown in Boone County, W. Virginia. Let’s hope he manages to fulfil his early promise.

Review by Eilís Boland

The Kentucky Colonels 1966 Proper

Los Angeles bluegrass band The Kentucky Colonels’ original lineup featured brothers Clarence, Roland and Eric White, together with LeRoy McNees and Billy Ray Latham. Credited in most circles as the leading light in the revival of bluegrass music in the early to mid-60s, they recorded two albums at that time, THE NEW SOUND OF BLUEGRASS AMERICA (1963) and APPALACHIAN SWING (1964). Unfortunately, their success was short-lived, the import of Brit-pop and more locally, country rock, rendered their sound outdated by the younger record-buying public of that time. They disbanded in 1967 and reunited for a brief period in 1973 as The New Kentucky Colonels, with the three brothers augmented by Herb Pedersen on guitar and Alan Munde on banjo.

The album, 1966, was originally released in 1978 and this reissue is an expanded edition that also includes a number of their early and most popular recordings. In many ways, they can take credit for transporting bluegrass into a more present-day sound at that time. Plugging in electric instruments and hiring a drummer would have been considered sacrilege by bluegrass purists, but the brothers, influenced by artists and bands like Bob Dylan and The Byrds, took both of these on board. Clarence White, tragically killed by a drunk driver at the age of twenty-nine in 1973, is often credited as the pioneer of country rock, following his spell as a member of The Byrds. He was also the ‘go-to’ session guitarist for several household names including the Everly Brothers, Joe Cocker, The Monkees, Jackson Browne, and Linda Ronstadt. Brother Roland, after the band broke up, moved to Nashville to join Bill Monroe’s band The Bluegrass Boys.

With twenty-one tracks on offer, 1966 includes original songs, traditional songs and instrumentals. Technically the playing of Clarence (guitar), Roland (mandolin) and Eric (bass), is outstanding and although it is chiefly traditional bluegrass on tracks like Soldier Joy, One Tear, Shady Grove, Cotton Eyed Joe, and Shuckin’ The Corn, their awareness of a more progressive sound is evident on The Fugitive and Old Country Church.  Also included are a number of interesting live radio and tv performances from 1959-1961, when the brothers performed as the Country Boys.

This album will be considered a ‘must have’ for scholars of the bluegrass genre, but it should also appeal to a wider audience, particularly to those who followed Clarence White’s short career post The Kentucky Colonels. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Lester Flatt Pickin’ Time CMH Records

PICKIN’ TIME is the final studio recording by Lester Flatt and The Nashville Grass, released in 1978, one year before Flatt’s death. Best known as guitarist and mandolin player, alongside banjo supremo Earl Scruggs, in the duo Flatt and Scruggs, Flatt hooked up with The Nashville Grass after the break-up of Flatts and Scruggs. A seasoned player from a young age, Flatt’s apprenticeship included supporting Bill Monroe in the mid-1940s.

Released on the CMH Records label, it’s the first digital recording of the album. The Nashville Grass was made up of masterly players of that era including Clarence Tate on fiddle, Kenny Ingram on banjo, and a very young Marty Stuart on guitar and banjo. Packed with racing instrumentals (Goin’ Up On Black Mountain, Bluegrass Shuffle), old-time standards (We Don’t Care What Mama Allow, Cabin On The Hill, If You Ain’t Tried It, Don’t Knock It) and country blues (I’ll Be All Smiles Tonight), it was a fitting swansong for one of the most revered artists in bluegrass circles.

Credit goes to CHM Records for continuing to release essential recordings of bluegrass, old-time, and traditional country music and ensuring that the music recorded and performed by artists such as Flatt can be enjoyed by new generations of traditional music lovers and historians of that genre.

‘Walking into the Opry with him was like walking into the Vatican with the Pope,’ says Marty Stuart, when recalling his experience of playing with Flatt’s band. Deserved praise indeed for Flatts, who was posthumously inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985.

Review by Declan Culliton

The Pink Stones You Know Who Normaltown/New West

Athens, Georgia six-piece The Pink Stones continue on the spacey cosmic country tenor of their debut album INTRODUCING……. THE PINK STONES, released in 2021, with this twelve-track sophomore record. YOU KNOW WHO follows a similar music template, marrying honky tonk, psychedelia, blues and rock ‘n’ roll, and giving the impression that none of the band have heard anything recorded post-1970. Indeed, the pioneers of genre-blending, The Grateful Dead, come to mind listening to this very impressive album.

Unlike their debut record, which was recorded at Chase Park Transduction in Athens, they opted for a looser direction this time around. They tracked the material live at the home of Hernies frontman, Henry Barbe (Deertick, Drive By Truckers), who also co-produced the album with The Pink Stones frontman and songwriter, Hunter Pinkston.

Guests include Nikki Lane, who duets with Pinkston on the country shuffle, Baby, I’m Still Right Here (With You) and Teddy and The Rough Riders, who add their collective backing vocals on the racy Who’s Laughing Now? Gram Parsons comes to mind on both Roses & Poppies and Moving On (Without You), the former is a classic Texan waltz, the latter a pedal steel drenched jewel. You Know Who, in J.J. Cale style, reaches a sweet spot between country and soul.

An album often infused with a sense of dry humour transports the listener to a playful place on many of the tunes. The Pink Stones don’t attempt to reinvent the wheel with YOU KNOW WHO, they simply sound like high-spirited friends inviting you into their musical world. It’s an invitation that you’re well advised to accept. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Ed Snodderly Chimney Smoke Majestic

A songwriter, musician, teacher and sometime actor (he had a cameo part in O Brother, Where Art Thou) who is steeped in the world of Southern influenced old-time and bluegrass music. He released his first album back in 1977. After that he released others under his own name and three albums as a member of The Brother Boys, which was where I first encountered him. 

Now comes this new album and, in truth, my first attraction was in the Shoestring Seven, a combo that includes such names as Shawn Camp, Steve Hinson, Chris Scruggs and Kenny Vaughan - though the latter duo have stepped outside their more traditional twang-filled mode as part of The Fabulous Superlatives. Expect something that may be said to approach more of a folk/country/acoustic roots sound; one which has some mighty fine ensemble playing assembled.

Snodderly proves his versatility as a writer, penning all of the songs here, of which there are immediate standouts that include Gone With Gone And Long Time, a tale of drifters and their travels “caught that freight last night / that was coming down the line … hear a lonesome whistle / see a lowly ghost coming out of the alley”, featuring some deft picking. The title track has more homespun human sympathy and observation, with lines like “A broken handle off a bucket pale / makes a good hook hung off a nail” and “see an old man coming up the road / something on his back going to lighten his load.” There You Are has Hinson’s trusty pedal steel and Steve Conn’s piano adding some sense of time and space to the song. Rockin’ out a bit more is Barn, driven by John Gardner’s equally strong percussion. The wah-wah guitar that features in Crow’s Fever sits nicely with Chris Carmichael’s orchestration, which brings something of a Southern symphonic soul funk to the overall variety that is apparent on the recordings. Another uptempo outing is equally upbeat, the positive note of Walking In The Sunshine Again summed up by its opening lines “it feels easy to be with you / kinda breezy and not so blue.”  More poetic and bucolic perhaps is the understated Before School, which again has the steel and piano fundamental to its mood. The final track is listed as a bonus track and is the very buoyant pickin’ of The Diamond Stream.

Throughout it should be noted that Snodderly is vocally on the money and is joined on several of the tracks by the harmony and background singing of Amethyst Kiah, Eugene Wolf, Maura O’Connell, Gretchen Peters, Malcolm Holcombe, Shawn Camp and the album’s producer (a man with his own track record), R.S. Field. The recording engineer was the late Bill VornDick, his last project prior to his passing. So a wealth of talent is present here and it can easily be seen (and heard) as would the titular smoke which might well do before it disperses up into the atmosphere. It captures much of Snodderly’s deep roots in Appalachia as well as his Southern upbringing, which makes it both personal and universal, but never less than a really good listen.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Alice Howe Circumstance Self Release

A second outing from the talented Alice Howe and this new album was recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Co-produced with her musical partner Freebo (Bonnie Raitt, Maria Muldaur, Crosby Stills & Nash, Ringo Starr) the new record displays her vocal prowess and soulful delivery in abundance. If her debut album, Visions (2019), suffered just a little by the inclusion of four cover songs, this time around Howe delivers ten of her own songs, including six co-writes with Freebo, and just one cover song inclusion. It leads to a stronger statement and a greater focus.

Opening song You’ve Been Away So Long delivers a positive first impression, and the lyrics reflect on relationship challenges, ‘When you’re in the moment it’s so hard to read the signs, You just need that perspective that you only gain in time.’ The second track Somebody’s New Lover Now continues the theme and showcases a  warm and rich sound with some nice lead guitar lines and organ swells in a song about moving on from an old romance.

Let Go slows everything down and delivers a realisation that a relationship is not giving you everything that you wanted, some nice piano and guitar adding to the melody. Love Has No Rules continues the theme of moving away from a relationship and it’s almost like Alice is looking at songs as therapy, in working out life’s romantic twists and turns. Things I’m Not Saying is yet another song about looking into what was broken, ‘I heard you been travelin’ heard you’re doin’ all right, That you got some new girlfriend, moving on with your life.’ Definitely harbouring feelings of regret with how the relationship worked out. ‘No, I haven’t forgot all the things that I’m not saying to you.’

What About You is putting out a message of new beginnings and is a very up-tempo song with the lines, ‘I’m looking for somebody who, Is looking for somebody too.’ There is a strong sense of wanderlust that runs through these songs, almost as a theme. The guitar driven Something Calls To Me is very atmospheric with Freebo (acoustic), Jeff Fielder (slide) and Will McFarlane (electric) delivering great interplay in a track that looks at the urge to take a chance and to heed the call from the horizon beyond. With You By My Side is a love song to the joys of being with the right person, the confidence and strength gained by trusting in another and all the positive energy it channels. The use of horns and soulful backing singers really lift the soulful arrangement.

Line By Line is another relationship song about using someone up and moving on, ‘Well it’s hard to face I let it get so bad, I stuck a knife into the life I had.’ Travelin’ Soul is a highlight with some funky playing, inspired slide guitar and a look into the heart of present day USA.  ‘It’s a bitter pill to swallow, The country that you love, Has a history of violence, That is written out in blood, I am a travelin’ soul, Seekin’ truth along this road.’

Final song It’s How You Hold Me (Dayna Kurtz) is a gentle acoustic arrangement which encapsulates all the yearning and learning on this album; the heartache and the hope; the pleasure and the pain that relationships bring; the connection and the need to be loved. Circumstance is something that dominates any relationship and the direction that it may take. On this album, Alice Howe covers all the angles and still comes up with the need to keep pushing through. An excellent slice of Americana for those who enjoy superb musicianship and engaging playing.

Review by Paul McGee

Michael Jerome Browne Gettin’ Together Borealis/Stony Plain

Ever since 1998 this gifted artist has been recording music of very high quality. A dedicated performer in the genres of mainly acoustic blues and folk, Browne is a multi-instrumentalist and a torch bearer for all that is good in roots music. This is his ninth solo album and the fourteen tracks include seven songs with the word ‘blues’ in their title. The blues were born out of hardship, in the conditions of slavery and unspeakable crimes against humanity. The music is at the root of everything that has followed on, from the cottonfields of the southern American states to the factories of the big cities and the establishment of ghettos, to the reality of rural and social depravation. Through it all the blues has reflected and captured the times and the acoustic music on this album stands as a living testament.

The players on the record came together for a number of sessions and performed in a live setting for spontaneity and a sense of getting to the source of the music. The vibe is probably best captured on the superb Please Help, where Browne invites both Stephen Barry (string bass) and John McColgan (drums) to join him on a compelling groove with the live feel of the playing completely addictive. Contrast this with the wonderful Fixin’ To Die with Browne on gourd banjo and Teilhard Frost on fiddle in a duet that brings Appalachian traditional tunes to mind. Reverend Strut is one of just three instrumentals on the album and features Browne playing 6-string banjo par excellence.

Shake ‘Em On Down features Eric Bibb on 9-string guitar and J.J. Milteau on harmonica with Browne delivering on tenor guitar and vocals. John Sebastian pops up on a few songs playing harmonica  while Mary Flower adds her talents on guitars and vocals,  with Colin Linden dropping by to play guitar on Hound Dog Crave also. It’s all connected, this great big gumbo of roots, gospel, blues, old-time, country, soul and cajun music. There is no better proponent than Michael Jerome Browne to keep the spirit alive.

Review by Paul McGee

Bob Bradshaw The Art Of Feeling Blue Fluke

The wanderlust that takes hold of many young men could well be summed up in the life story of Bob Bradshaw. This Irish expatriate first moved abroad in the 1980s, working at various jobs as he made his way via Portugal, Spain, Germany and Sweden, to the shores of America. Bradshaw has now settled in the Boston area, having travelled across the States and played in numerous locations along the journey that has taken him to the release of his tenth album.

It is a very impressive collection of ten tracks across forty plus minutes of superbly captured Americana sounds. The production is shared by Bradshaw and his band of regular Boston musicians, many of which appeared on his last outing, the superb GHOST LIGHT (2021). Once again, Bradshaw is joined by Andrew Stern and Andy Santospago (acoustic, electric, lap steel, keyboards), John Sheeran (bass), and Mike Connors (drums), James Rohr (keyboards), Chad Manning (fiddle), and other invited  guests on individual tracks. Kris Delmhorst sings seven of the songs, her vocals adding interesting layers and tones in the overall sound.

All of the songs are collaborations between Bradshaw and other writers, with five of the tracks involving Andy Santospago, a further three with Scoop McGuire, and two with Andrew Stern. They were all written during Covid lockdown before recording could take place and the power unleashed by these players more than hints at the collective frustrations they must have endured while waiting to play as a collective again.

Opening track Waiting is a great example of the dynamic sound that awaits the listener and Bradshaw also released a recent video that captures the essence of the song so well. It has a driving beat and reminds me of a Tom Petty inspired groove in the performance. Hot In the Kitchen is another rocking song that channels the thoughts of a short-order chef and the waitress that keeps flirting with him. Elsewhere we are treated to the Tejano inspired sound of Rosa, an immigrant song about trying to start a new life away from your homeland in a strange city. The inclusion of Jacob Valenzuela (Calexico) on trumpet is a masterstroke as he infuses the track with great colour and personality.

Things get more serious on the slow burn sound of I Keep It Hid, a song that references the instinct to keep all internal problems bottled up and supressed, ‘Far inside is where I hide myself, And at the core’s a bolted door.’ Similarly, the track Stepping Stones refers to attempts at plotting a set path through the troubles that may come your way. There is always some autobiographical element in any song, even if channelled through some third party character and Bradshaw is a very skilled songwriter who knows how to balance the sweet with the sour across this album.

Somebody Told a Lie is a song about female deception and the atmospheric sound of Chris Isaak is lurking under the covers.  Two highlights are The Silk Road Caravan and Let Sleeping Gods Lie. Both songs are strong in the dynamic and arrangement, with the powerful message of dark outside forces as a constant threat driving the first song, also hinting at the “migratory” lifestyle of traveling that Bradshaw has experienced. While the official video for Let Sleeping Gods Lie shows the futility of war with battle scenes from the front-line trenches, it strikes me that the song could equally apply to the inner turmoil of having lost his wife in 2022. Bob Bradshaw is still in the process of coming to terms with such a devastating loss and it would not be unreasonable to think that the belief in any higher power is something that is being questioned a lot.

This album is full of great moments, sharply written songs, excellent musicianship and dynamic production. What more could you ask for and THE ART OF FEELING BLUE is another strong addition to this artist’s impressive body of work.

Review by Paul McGee

Simeon Hammond Dallas, Logan Halstead, The Pink Stones, edsnodderlymusic.com Alice Howe, Michael Jerome Browne, and Bob Bradshaw Music

New Album Reviews

Meredith Moon Constellations True North

Travel is the overriding theme of the second album from Canadian, Meredith Moon, her first on a major label. It’s hardly a surprise, as she spent the last decade (pre-Covid) on self-booked solo tours of both North and South America and Europe, describing herself simply as a ‘singer-songwriter’. This is also understandable when you realise that she felt she had to prove herself, until she felt ready to ‘come out’ more recently as a daughter of the late Gordon Lightfoot.

Moon is a self-taught clawhammer banjo player, as well as an accomplished acoustic guitar picker, and this self-produced album has a stripped back sound overall, with an old time/Appalachian feel.

Both the opening track Starcrossed and the closing Slow Moving Train are melancholic in tone, describing the end of a love relationship. Tony Allen contributes old time style fiddle to many of the songs, adding to the laidback and downbeat feel. By contrast, That Town is an affectionate look at a remote Northern Ontario town where Moon (and many fellow backpackers) have often found themselves stranded for a few days. The title track harks back wistfully to those earlier travelling days, and here Moon accompanies herself on banjo, acoustic guitar and glockenspiel, perfectly evoking a starry winter night sky. Brokenwing Bird, one of two instrumentals lets Moon stretch out on frailing banjo, starting slowly and building up to a frenzy, with the curious combination of drums (Will Fisher) and bowed bass (Alex Merchand) accompanying. Lighthouse County and Mark Twain have a nautical theme, while her interpretation of Soldier’s Joy (the only cover) is empathetic and affecting.

Worth checking out and, if you like what you hear, see her website for upcoming Irish and British tour dates in August.

Review by Eilís Boland

William Prince Stand In The Joy Six Shooter

Already well established in his native Canada, this fourth record from Manitoban William Prince should help to propel him into the mainstream of Americana and increase his reach further afield. With his gorgeous blend of country and folk, he has already proven that he can write the songs, having worked hard at crafting those skills over the past few years, and he has a Juno award, a Tiny Desk (npr) concert and many collaborations under his belt. He’s had his troubles in the past decade too but here he is, in his happy place, yet still producing wonderful work in STAND IN THE JOY.

Across ten self-penned songs, complemented by the production skills of Dave Cobb, the listener is drawn into the welcome intimacy of Prince’s rich, deep baritone and into his current world, where he has learned to find positivity in the face of adversity. He’s open about the fact that his songs are not totally autobiographical, but freely shares the fact that Tanqueray was inspired by his first meeting with his now fiancée, Alyshia Grace, who also sings dreamy backup vocals on several songs. Deceptively simple lyrics are the hallmark of a master songwriter and one can feel the rush of a ‘brand new love’ instantly here - ‘Tanqueray on your lips then mine/ Tattoo of cheap red wine/Tracing the smile on your face’. (Tanqueray is a traditional London dry gin, by the way, in case, like me, you didn’t know). Goldie Hawn is another love song, where female icons of the 20th century like Goldie Hawn, Joni Mitchell and Georgia O’Keefe are used to encapsulate ‘the sweet surrender of love’. He still remembers what it’s like to have a broken heart, though, and Broken Heart of Mine is given an out and out country treatment, complete with pedal steel courtesy of veteran Nashville player, Paul Franklin. On Young, he reminisces on the aspirations of youth, ‘shoulda had it all by now/according to my younger self’ but still finds the positive, ‘we can start over again/nothing is out of our reach’.

It’s not just the voice though, but it’s William Prince’s phrasing that can just stop me in my tracks. Sinatra has nothing on him. And the way he can just end a song by leaving it hanging …

Cobb’s production serves the songs and Prince’s soothing and reassuring vocals so well, keeping them front and centre at all times. He’s also aided and abetted by Chris Powell (drums), Brian Allen (bass) and Lee Pardini (keys).

The untimely passing of John Prine prompted Easier And Harder All The Time, a musing on the ‘truth about love’ and Prince’s homage to that much missed icon of Americana, featuring a catchy electric guitar riff from Mike T Kenny.

The closing two songs, Peace Of Mind and Take A Look Around could not have been written by a younger man. In the former, Prince speculates on the essence of life, and quotes his aspiration to ‘stand in the joy’, which gives the album its title. In the latter, he references those closest to him, including his young son who ‘he hopes grows into someone that he loves … I hope he feels me when I’m gone’.

A definite contender for my album of the year.

Eilís Boland

Son Volt Day Of The Doug Transmit

Opening and closing with voicemails from the late Texan Doug Sahm to Jay Farrar, that the Son Volt frontman had saved, DAY OF THE DOUG is a tribute to an artist that remains somewhat under the radar but was hugely influential on numerous emerging alt-country bands, and in particular Son Volt and The Bottle Rockets.

Sahm was a member of both the Sir Douglas Quintet and the Texas Tornadoes and Farrar’s relationship with the San Antonio-born artist goes back to the early 90s. A cover of Sahm’s Give Back The Key To My Heart was included on Uncle Tupelo’s album ANODYNE, with Sahm adding vocals to that recording on the band’s final album. 

Best known for his love of Tex Mex and two-step Cajun music, Sahm formed the supergroup the Texas Tornados in 1989, alongside Augie Meyers (organ, vocals), Freddy Fender (guitar, vocals) and Flaco Jimenez (accordion, vocals) to promote that sound. Their self-titled debut album earned them a Grammy Award for Best Mexican/American Album and they were invited to perform, together with Willie Nelson, at Bill Clinton’s first inauguration.

DAY OF THE DOUG came about following Farrar’s trawl through Sahm’s back catalogue during the pandemic and the resulting songs selected are a reflection of Sahm’s recordings that travelled some distance from his much-loved Tex-mex sound. Keep Your Soul and Huggin’ Thin Air are full-on barroom honky tonkers and both It’s Gonna Be Easy and Seguin have an early Uncle Tupelo sound. Indeed, while paying tribute to his much-revered friend, Farrar also reminds the listener of the impact that Sahm had on Son Volt. This mainly comes to light on Float Away, which is closely related to the band’s classic song Drown, from their debut album, TRACE. Other standout inclusions are the poppy ode to Sahm’s home state, Beautiful Texas Sunshine and Poison Love, the latter being an accordion-driven border gem. With Farrar’s trademark nasally vocal deliveries floating on top of some crisp guitar playing and a driving rhythm section, they collectively breathe new life into a well- selected collection of songs.

Covers albums can be hit-and-miss affairs but Farrar and his band have hit the bullseye here. Son Volt lovers will lap this up and those unfamiliar with the music of Doug Sahm are well advised to do a bit of revision on the extensive back catalogue of this treasured Texas outlaw. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Riders Of The Canyon Self-Titled Great Canyon

Formed in 2017, Riders Of The Canyon is a side project of Catalan Joana Serrat, her fellow countrymen Roger Usart and Victor Partido, and Northern Irish singer song writer Matthew Mc Daid. This self-titled full-length album follows on from their 2022 EP of the same name.

With the recordings taking place in London, Barcelona, Girona, Texas, Nashville and Oregon and with three producers (John Morgan Askew, Joey McClellan, McKenzie Smith), it’s little surprise that the ten tracks’ themes display a sense of dislocation and motion, with both rural and urban matters addressed. The writing credits name all four band members and, in a similarly democratic fashion, the lead vocals are also shared. Numerous guests were invited to partake in the recordings including B.J.Cole, Cory Gray, Jesse Chandler and Joey McClellan. Would that non-partisanship result in a disconnected end product or would the whole be more than the sum of the parts? The answer is certainly the latter.

Joana Serrat takes the lead vocal on opener, Master Of My Lonely Time and it’s very much a mirror of the energy and direction of her highly regarded 2021 album, HARDCORE FROM THE HEART. Serrat also takes the lead on the gentle title track, her whispered vocal bolstered by mellow backing vocals, pedal steel guitar and a well-placed horn section towards the end of the song. There’s a Calexico-type vibe to Dirty Water and Downtown harks back to the experimental path of Gene Clark’s classic NO OTHER.

Sorrow Song, with its delicate piano-led intro, bookends the album. With the vocal taken by Usart, it once more conjures up Calexico-styled desert landscapes. It’s also a fitting finale to an album whose sonic terrain lands it in the folk-rock genre, bringing together the creative fire of four ambitious and skilled songwriters and musicians.

Review by Declan Culliton

Adam Klein Holidays In United States Cowboy Angel

More often than not, socially-conscious, politically-charged music comes at you in the suitably aggressive format of punk rock or in a strident folk-fervour. So when you listen to this album’s delivery of seemingly understated melodies, it is as unexpected as it is effective when you begin to be taken into Klein’s lyrical dismay at a corrupt and divided political polarisation of attitudes that can’t seem to accept, let alone understand, another viewpoint or opinion. 

The album was produced, engineered and mixed by Bronson Tew, based on some earlier recordings done by band member Will Robertson. He played bass alongside Colin Agnew on drums, electric and lap steel player Bret Hartley and Klein himself. Later a further nine players added contributions that enhanced the textures of the songs. The instruments weaving into the sound were keyboards, pedal steel, horns and additional guitars, bass and drums. There was also the effective use throughout of harmony vocals, which add to the overall sound of the material.

What also stands out is the lyrical quality of the songs, which is both effective and important. 1-20 deals with heading to Atlanta to protest about the deaths by brutal police activities in that city and beyond. It was something that despite being in the midst of the Covid pandemic, Klein felt the need to be physically present when the time came to show solidarity with those in the community equally shocked by the attitude of many law enforcement agencies.

This song, in the first section, details deep concerns about what may happen as the man and his daughter join the “march toward a just tomorrow righteously” before the song then goes on to list the many names of those who have died in racially motivated confrontations. It is powerful and effective in its restrained but soulful delivery. That many of the songs take a similar tack should be no surprise with titles like People Are Callin’  (“don’t want to carry this anger, don’t want to wanna feel this danger”) or When Will We Go Marching?, a song that starts with a man at home cooking a meal and putting on a Neil Young record before he realises that a person may be faced with a situation that allows that “a man stands before you but he’s never seen, your boot on his back, his neck against your knee.” How a situation can be so volatile in such a short time. Another Neil Young reference occurs in Ohio Revisted, where “four dead in Ohio” is incorporated into the new lyric. Young has been a longtime influence it appears. Quite where the old rail lines may have lead is considered in Bright Rails Shine and that “on the sweat of the men who did labor, White and Black and Chinese laid bright rails shine.” These rails brought a nation together but at a price, one that was particular high for some. Wait Til They Come Knockin’ warns that “justice is just a word that lives in a smokey backroom.”

The overall lyrical stance though, which shows a writer who has translated some of the pain of these times into a poetic penmanship, should be balanced against what is a striking musical encounter, that if one was not to concentrate on the words and simply listen would be enjoying it for its own grace.

I’m not sure what Klein outlines would fit the description of anything approaching a holiday atmosphere, but it is never-the-less one to enjoy. Adam Klein has added to a body of work with this new album (there have been seven previous albums since 2006), the first I have encountered, but one that will no doubt enhance his reputation and continuing development as a writer, storyteller and singer.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors Strangers No More Magnolia

Although the press release states that this represents the ninth studio album, I reckon that Drew Holcomb sits closer to double that total, with occasional EPs, Christmas and Live releases, thrown into the mix. As a solo act, dating back to 2003, Holcomb cut his teeth by performing in venues around his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. He formed the band in 2005 and the members, who all lived in the same zip code area (hence the name), began to earn a reputation for their hard work ethic and touring schedule.

At this stage in their career, the band play arena shows to enthusiastic crowds who delight in their big sound and catchy choruses. Drew Holcomb is a songwriter of real quality and his ability to create  positive affirmations and a feeling of real community has drawn many admirers to his celebratory themes of life and love. This album is focused very much on our place in the universe as a species and the passing of time. Covid lockdown clearly had an impact on everyone, in different ways, and Holcomb has been taking stock of the wonder in the world and perhaps, all that we take for granted.

A number of these eleven songs are focused around gratitude and embracing what we have, as opposed to always wishing for new and shiny things that don’t necessarily enhance our lives. By looking within, Holcomb liberates a part of his persona that seeks a sense of peace and acceptance. Find Your People is a perfect example in which Holcomb states ‘You got to find your people, the ones that you feel equal, they pick you up and don’t put you down, help you find your way in the lost and found.’

Gratitude sings of all the little things that bring joy, whether it’s just a walk in the rain or a smile from a child. Troubles looks at the anxieties that can develop in our lives and blind us to the calm that rests within. Holcomb wants to ‘dance away the heartache in the moonlight.’ There are six co-writes on the album and one song is penned by Nathan Dugger, who has been in the band for twenty years now.

The musicians play with a real sense of freedom and the entire album was recorded in just eight days. The band performed live in the studio and the playing is impressively captured by producer Cason Cooley. He also contributes on multiple instruments throughout, along with regular band members, Rich Brinsfield (bass), Will Sayles (drums, percussion), Nathan Dugger (guitars, keyboards) and Ian Miller (piano, synths, accordion, keyboards). There are additional appearances from a horn section on a few songs and from Holcomb’s wife, the talented Ellie, who used to be a regular band member.

On A Roll is a song that will become a big favourite in concert, with the harmonica of Holcomb playing on top of a strident rhythm that builds into an anthem of Springsteen proportions. Possibility is another song that instils a similar dynamic and the joy of Dance With Everybody is yet another song written for the live arena with an obvious encore appeal. Holcomb also has the ability to strip everything down to more acoustic-based arrangements and songs like the opening Fly and the closing Free (Not Afraid To Die) leave the listener in no doubt that we are in the presence of a leading light in the current overcrowded realm of Americana.   

Review by Paul McGee

Ellis Paul 55 Rosella

Sounding like a throwback to the 60s sound of Cat Stevens, the vocal tone of Ellis Paul comes calling across a career that commenced in New England during the 1980s. He self-produced this new album during the Covid lockdown and it is focused around the fact that, as he turned 55 years of age, he was diagnosed with a musician’s worst nightmare, a condition that constricts hand movement and forces the fingers to become a tight fist. With the prospect of no income lying ahead into the future, Paul decided to throw himself into work while he was still able to create music that would reflect the uncertainty of the times and also provide some succour from his diagnosis.

The songs that comprise this album are filled not with negative emotions and feelings; more with an optimism for what each day can bring as a gift. And speaking of gifts, there is a heartwarming story that surrounds the song, The Gift. On hearing of his diagnosis, musical friend Patty Griffin reached out to give Paul  some motivation to carry on the good fight, and she gave him a box filled with various items, ‘She put a ribbon on an old shoe box, I could hear the tick of a pocket watch, She said “All the time you need is in your hands,” There was a matchbox to burn away all the ghosts, And sage for the ones that haunt you most.’

Holy is a great song about a fictitious character who emigrates from Ireland on the doomed Titanic, looking for new beginnings in America. Everyone Knows It Now is a love song that features Laurie MacAllister (Red Molly), who is also a partner to Paul. She adds backing vocals on five songs in total and her fellow Red Molly bandmate Abbie Gardner provides dobro and vocals on Who You Are, a song that reveals a quiet need to be in nature and to try and commune with the great forces that surround us all.

Opening song The Cosmos gives thanks for all the benefits that life puts our way, while the title track, 55, is a look back at a life lived and the chances taken. Surviving the twists and turns on the road is what it all comes down to, with the Covid lockdown dealing yet another unexpected twist, ‘The virus don’t care if you’ve got mouths to feed, Or about songs you’re singing, While the whole world’s bleeding, But you get to stay and John Prine’s leaving, Who’s in charge of the order?’

In a career that has seen the release of over twenty albums, the name of Ellis Paul has become synonymous with the Boston Folk movement in the 1980/90s and his intelligent and mature songs are filled with perspective and a keen ear for melody. The good news is that a recent surgery has provided some optimism for his future as a performer and some respite from his advancing condition. The songs on this album will bring a sense of place and time to those who like to explore quality songwriting.

Review by Paul McGee

Anna Elizabeth Laube Wild Outside Pockets!

This contemporary Folk singer releases her fifth album, and includes elements of pop and catchy choruses into something of a new direction for her music. In recent years she has been gathering a lot of new admirers to her bright and breezy take on melody and rhythmic arrangements.  A perfect example is her cover version of the Bob Dylan song, Buckets Of Rain, which is very up-tempo with a calypso style beat and a sassy vocal delivery. This is one of five cover songs on an album that has great personality and charm.

Quite why Laube decided to include so many cover songs is something that will bring comment and it’s not as if she comes up short on her own creative muse. Her own songs are full of great moments, like the lovely Jardim Da Estrela which captures the joy and mystery of a visit to a garden in Lisbon, with an accordion played beautifully by Chris Joyner. This song appeared on a compilation album the Laube released in 2021. Equally, By Your Side is a message of optimism and an urge to see a friend living their best life in the choices that present themselves.

Other cover songs included are Crying (Orbison/Melson), I Will (Lennon/McCartney), How Could We Not Believe (Ben Harper) and It’s Nice To Be Alive (Swift/Bell/Feeney). It’s certainly a departure from the last studio album, TREE (2016), which was less commercially focused. The big production of songs Warrior and Beautiful Day seem to be aimed at a popular mass audience and this is a decision that may bring increasing media exposure to Laube.

More interesting is the stripped back version of I Will  with restrained piano and reflective vocal. Similarly the Ben Harper cover is a gentle arrangement with Bob Reich on accordion and Laube playing guitar, bass and delivering the sweet vocal. The Roy Orbison cover is delivered in instrumental form with just Laube and her piano in a very different take on the classic hit. She certainly likes to take chances and to push her unique vision of what song and melody can do.

Laube opens the album with the title song, Wild Outside, and an urge to escape city life in favour of the oceanside. The final song revisits this theme, Welcome Back To the Wild Outside, and the spoken word lyrics seem to reflect upon a broken relationship and memories that harbour regret. However, the restful calm can return with mother nature calling ‘Don’t forget, it’s okay, We’re all still here, We’re still happy, Welcome back to the Wild Outside.’ All in all, something of an uneven album but with enough great moments to engage.

Review by Paul McGee

Jono Manson Stars Enough To Guide Me Blue Rose

Born and raised in New York, and now relocated to Sante Fe, New Mexico, this album represents the eleventh release in a career that has seen Manson’s talents as a singer-songwriter, producer, and sideman recognised by many across the music industry. Indeed, a number of named artists are involved in the recording of this new album, which follows on from the excellent SILVER MOON (2020).

The project was produced by Manson at his own recording studio, The Kitchen Sink, with all songs written by him, including six co-writes. Two of the songs were written with his wife, Caline Welles and a further three with Kevin Trainor who plays electric guitar on a couple of tracks. Eliza Gilkyson adds her lovely vocals to two songs and Eric Ambel appears also on guitar, together with John Popper (Blues Traveller).

The album is an eclectic mix of many different styles but the dominant sound is based in the Americana/Roots genres. The RnB groove of Before We Get Stupid and The Further Adventures Of Goat Boy and the Clown are balanced against the beautiful country arrangements on Late Bloomer and Alone. Timberline is a fine ballad that would fit nicely into the songbook of James Taylor while No New Kind Of Blue is a dip into acoustic country blues territory with John Popper taking lead vocal and playing some very tasty harmonica, along with dobro and mandolin played by John Egnes.

Jason Crosby plays a range of instruments on all but one track and his prowess on organ, electric piano, and violin is a highlight, always fluent and fluid. Mark Clark and Paul Pearcy share drumming duties and Ronnie Johnson plays a pulsing bass on all eleven songs. Manson is a fine lead singer, his vocal full of character, and his excellent acoustic and electric guitar sounds are a real joy to experience. John Graboff turns up on four songs playing acoustic and electric guitars, 12-string and pedal steel, and mandolin; plus a host of other players cameo on different tracks. Lead/ harmony vocal is shared on other songs by Trevor Bahnson, Myrrhine Faller, David Berkeley, and Crystal Bowersox. The playing on the album is really superb and the song arrangements hold the attention and are very engaging. Jono Manson has delivered another yet another impressive example of his undoubted talents.

Review by Paul McGee

Meredith Moon, William Prince, Son Volt, Riders of The Canyon (Joana Serrat), Adam Klein, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, Ellis Paul Music and More, Anna Elizabeth Laube and Jono Manson.

New Album Reviews

Buddy Mondlock Filament Self Release

This seventh album from singer songwriter Buddy Mondlock had an official release back in February but somehow slipped through our net at Lonesome Highway. It can be hard to sometimes to get to every review in a timely fashion. Let’s just call it a case of excess demands on limited resources. Either way, this is a timely reminder to check out a fine talent that may be unknown to some who like to seek out real quality in their music. Sprinkle a little bit of magic dust into the writing and you have the full package here.

This time around we are treated to eleven songs from Buddy’s creative muse.  The musicians called upon are all experienced players and in Mike Lindauer (fretless electric bass), Josh Hunt (drums/percussion), Jim Hoke (pedal steel), Avery Bright (violin/viola), Austin Hoke (cello), Evan Cobb (flute/oboe), Melissa Greener and Carey Kotsionis (harmony vocals), we have a really talented ensemble to assist in breathing real life into these words of wisdom, longing, regret, optimism and much more besides.

Buddy himself is no mean player and contributes on an array of instruments (acoustic, electric and baritone guitar, 12-string guitar, resonator & high string guitar, banjo and electric bass). All songs are from the cultured pen of Buddy, including four co-writes. The producer is Brad Jones, who has worked with quite an elite list of artists, including Patty Griffin, Kim Richey, Allison Moorer, Shelby Lynne, Hayes Carll, Over the Rhine and Chuck Prophet. He also extends his talents to playing and contributes on upright and electric bass, harmonium, mellotron, Hammond B3, harmonica, electric guitar and xylophone. The album was recorded at Alex the Great in Nashville, a studio owned by Brad Jones.

Buddy is often referred to as a songwriter’s songwriter, having written for other artists over many years, before releasing his debut album in 1987. His songs have been recorded by Janis Ian, Guy Clark and Nanci Griffith, among others. He has a light touch and a gentle style that fits nicely into the hushed delivery in his vocal tone. The songs included here continue in the rich vein of intelligent craftmanship that Buddy brings to every project. The album opens with Filament and a tale of a girl who burned brightly but was ultimately consumed by the music system –  it could be a fictious female or it could be Britney, not that such detail matters. It is a nicely judged entry into what lies ahead.

Perfect  follows and is a love song that captures the moment when you see true beauty in another. It is a simple love song dedicated to his wife. The sorry tale of Jackson Petty  follows and he was a Great Grandfather of Buddy who, in 1864, hid from the raiding parties of civil war soldiers, only for his memories to return and haunt him in the face of possible conscription for his own son in WW1. If You Will is another fine song and captures that youthful innocence and trust when love is new. Sunlight In My Pocket follows in a similar vein and is an expression of celebrating love and happiness. It has an easy melody and a positive message to cling to in these troubled times.

The Woman In the Window changes things up a bit with a mellow, reflective tune that recognises feelings of loneliness, chances lost, a life remembered, memories that bite. Perhaps a life wasted as the very clever twist in the song conclusion dawns? It is a real standout song among so many other great tunes. Come Back First is very funny and another highlight, looking at a complex relationship that is volatile and unpredictable. The lyrics are so well crafted and an example being, ‘You been here and you been gone, Then here again and so on, Sorrow and relief – I don’t know which is worse. But if you want to leave again you gotta come back first.’

Ticket Taker Blues looks at the life of a ticket office worker at a bus or a railway station, stuck in a rut, and watching his life go by while wishing for dreams to come true and lead to a different reality. Weak is another standout song and a look at the life of a soldier. Buddy writes songs with military veterans through a program sponsored by an organization called Music Therapy of the Rockies and he includes this track as acknowledgement of the difficulties faced. It is a co-write with Nick Tibbs and the lyrics are quite hard hitting, ‘But the VA’s gonna fix you up, Just swallow these pills in this little cup, Back from the land of us and them, Giving Oxy out like M&Ms’. The reference to prescription drug abuse and addictive patients being all too clear.

Problem Solved is another song that is focused on addiction and love lost. ‘The future waited uninvolved, Then finally left, problem solved.’ The final track is The Dark which was co-written with Guy Clark. Perhaps we are all ultimately alone in this life, trying to connect with others and holding on for a lifeline. Our existence can be so fragile but we certainly have the capacity to endure. It is yet another superbly subtle song. If you have yet to discover the music of Buddy Mondlock then this is good a place to start, and then work backwards into his fine catalogue of excellent releases.

Review by Paul McGee

Bruce Cockburn O Sun O Moon True North

Another masterclass from the king of conscience. Since the 60s first announced this consummate singer songwriter into our lives, Bruce Cockburn has been releasing music of great intensity and stunning insight. This represents album number thirty-eight and it may well be one of his most powerful across a career of fighting to banish the darkness and illuminate the unyielding spirit that exists within us all.

Recorded in Nashville with his long-time producer, Colin Linden, O Sun O Moon exudes a profound simplicity and clarity. It’s almost as if Cockburn is looking back down the road travelled and reflecting upon the moments that have left an indelible mark. The focus is more on spiritual issues than the topical concerns that usually find prominence in his work. This time around, he is taking personal stock and balancing the books.

The quality of musicianship is of the highest level, and reflects the respect in which other musicians hold Cockburn’s body of work. Producer Colin Linden delivers a light and sensitive touch throughout and the various talents that feature across the twelve tracks include Janice Powers (keyboards), Gary Craig and Chris Brown (drums), Viktor Krauss (Bass), Jeff Taylor (accordion), Jenny Scheinman (violin) and multi-instrumentalist Jim Hoke. Linden appears on selected tracks also, and guest vocalists include Shawn Colvin and Buddy Miller in addition to Allison Russell, Sarah Jarosz, who also plays mandolin, Susan Aglukark and sisters Ann and Regina McCrary.

On A Roll opens the album and has Bruce declaring that he’s back and feeling as fit as ever for the fight. Orders follows next and is an atmospheric, slow melody with subtle playing. A song about acceptance and understanding. The milk of human kindness.

Push Come To Shove features Shawn Colvin and delivers a light jazz tone with violin, percussion, and acoustic guitar setting the atmosphere. Bruce finally realising the ‘when push comes to shove, it’s all about love.’

Colin Went Down To the Water is about a friend who drowned in Maui and features marimba and a resonant bass line. Allison Russell and Budy Miller contribute on harmony vocals. Into the Now features Sarah Jarosz on mandolin and is a song the captures the joy of being in the moment. The subtle differences between us all and our varied perceptions. It has a lovely melody with accordion playing so sweetly. Just let go and feel the love that surrounds us all. Heaven on earth. Day at a time.

Us All is a prayer for the human race. Is it too late to drop the barriers and just communicate? ‘Here we are faced with choice, Shutters and walls or open embrace, Like it or not the human race, Is us all.’ A Bruce Cockburn album would not be complete without touching on environmental issues. To Keep the World We Know features dulcimer and the sweet harmonies of Susan Aglukark, with whom he co-wrote the song, in a message about global warming. How do we survive if we don’t wake up and act. King Of Bolero takes a completely different direction with sax, clarinet, and marimba delivering a slow, sultry swing.

When the Spirit Walks In the Room is an acoustic tune, simple in structure and quite beautiful. The power outside our knowing, reduction of everything into proportion. The great presence of the infinite. Haiku  is the only instrumental on the album and highlights the wonderful guitar prowess of Cockburn, with marimba, bass, accordion, as accompaniment. Title track, O Sun By Day O Moon By Night features the McCrary sisters, harmonising to sax, clarinet, and marimba on a song that has Bruce looking to make some kind of peace with the ways of the world. When You Arrive ends the album on a light jazz/blues note with a song about ageing and acceptance. Bruce Cockburn has always fought against injustice, and espoused human rights for all. His great enemy has always been the corruption of power and the plight of the disadvantaged. On this album he has  given himself a reminder that the gentle call of nature is sometimes all we need to press the reset button – the ocean whisper, the sea undulating and mother nature shining with both magnificence and majesty, mystery and succour. A wonderful album and an essential purchase for any music collection.

Review by Paul McGee

Eliza Gilkyson Home Realiza

Eliza Gilkyson is a national treasure within the Folk Roots community and is held very dear. An artist that brings insight and joy to where music lovers gather to enjoy sentient song writing. By my count, this album places her number of releases in the mid-twenties, over a career that started back in the 1960s, and gathered pace into the decades that followed. Hers is the crown of gentle strength for others in the face of abusive power and the fear that spreads among the communities that feel vulnerable and unprotected.

This is a sublime record and right up there with Eliza’s greatest works. She continues to grow as an artist and the recent run of albums has seen Eliza at the peak of her powers. Her soothing vocal is just perfectly suited to these songs, many of which spread a healing balm over any cares or worries that the listener may have. Songs like Witness, with her brother Tony on sensitive and sublime guitar is a perfect example, and perhaps the ultimate love song, ‘The way you pull the veil, From the man behind the curtain, Cry from the heart for the lonely ones, The way you hear me out when you know I’m hurting, You’re the compassionate one.’

World Keeps On Singing and Sunflowers are two songs that wrap themselves around you and settle into the memory for different reasons. The former is a song about how the earth will endure and the spirit of hope that lingers. The latter is a song that rises above the urge in humans to destroy, and to take away the simple pleasures in life. Within Eliza, there has always been a fire that burned for redemption, coupled with the instinct to rebuild and to create new beginnings. This is the space where her empathy and grace come together in sweet harmony. .

Here Comes the Night has a country influence in the arrangement with brother Tony again providing the guitar parts. Man In the Bottle is a tribute to her father, Terry Gilkyson renowned singer and songwriter and Eliza calls upon some musicians that played with him, including Van Dyke Parks (piano, accordion), and John Egenes (Weissenborn guitar), with Rod Taylor (lead and harmony vocals).  The song is beautifully sculpted and includes references to three of his songs; Solitary Singer, With the Sad Eyes and Blue Mountain. It is a fitting and touching tribute.

Mary Chapin Carpenter shares vocals on Sparrow, a lovely song that features Jimmy Stadler on piano and celebrates both community and a recognition of the connection between music fans in their dedication in supporting artists such as Eliza and Chapin. Another song How Deep features the vocals of Robert Earl Keen and looks at what constitute real values and the way that we choose to live our lives. Safety Zone rails against the use of religion as a sticking plaster to all the inequality in the world, ‘Well the poor man lives for tomorrow, Tryin’ to run from his troubled mind, And the rich man lives off a poor man’s sorrow, Stands on his back to get one more dime.’

The final song, and title track, Home is the one cover on the album and originally written by Karla Bonoff back in 1977. It sees the circle completed and the journey of the restless wanderer resolved on the return to the safety of home. Eliza makes it her own with co-producer Don Richmond on vocal harmonies and some lovely pedal steel guitar. He plays an essential role throughout, with contributions on many instruments, including acoustic, 12-string, baritone, resonator and electric guitars, weissenborn guitar, mandolin, hammered dulcimer, upright and electric bass, pedal steel, harmony vocals.

An essential purchase and destined to feature in many top album lists for 2023. If you are looking for positive life affirmations then this is the album for you. It is essentially hopeful with a guarded optimism in looking for the better side of our collective consciousness, our deep human nature that seeks to nurture and not destroy all that is beautiful. Sweet redemption, indeed.

Review by Paul McGee

Annie Keating Hard Frost Self Release

Yet another strong statement from the very gifted songwriting talent that is Annie Keating. Her list of excellent releases stretches back to a debut in 2004 and this is her tenth album to date. On this record Annie delivers eleven songs that revolve around the vagaries of love. Her last release was BRISTOL COUNTRY TIDES (2021) and she was wrestling with bigger questions thrown up by the Covid crisis such as family, home and a sense of having a purpose in life. Producer Teddy Kumpel worked with Annie on that last album and he takes the reins again here.  The sound is excellent and very energising, whether listening to the more rock oriented numbers of the more mellow roots tracks.

Annie wrote nine of the songs herself and collaborated with Lynne Hanson on another, titled Lies and Dynamite. There is also a very credible cover of So Lonely (Sting) where she strips everything back to a bluesy treatment, infused with real intensity on the vocals. Annie takes the lead on vocals and acoustic guitar with the other players on the album comprising Steve Williams (drums, percussion), Richard Hammond (electric, acoustic bass, backing vocals), Todd Caldwell (piano, organ, mellotron, organ, Rhodes and Wurlitzer), Teddy Kumpel (acoustic guitar, electric and slide guitar, 12 string guitar, bass, background vocals), Lynne Hanson (backing vocals), and Kate Steinberg (backing vocals).

Looking For Trouble has the lines ‘No I wasn’t looking for trouble, but it found me in the nick of time, You were nothing I would have expected, But just what I needed to find.’   It’s a slow melody on an album that has as many up-tempo arrangements, played with plenty of attitude by Annie and her studio musicians. Sunshine Parade has the lines; ‘Trouble can find me, I don’t mind, Trouble is just a friend of mine.’  It’s a song with a great driving dynamic. Equally Lovesick Blues is all swagger and attitude. Lies and Dynamite has superb guitar and keyboard interplay and tells of love gone wrong while the Country influence on Keepsakes and Heartaches talks of new beginnings and time to move on.

Annie varies the tempo with slower songs like Witness and Wrong Guy’s Girl, both of which include some fine guitar highlights in the overall arrangements. Witness is about being there for another and  providing a shoulder of support to rest upon. Wrong Guy’s Girl is a like a musician-on-tour travel document but with a message of needing to return back to something that was left behind. Equally, Feels Like Home is another slow melody that remembers a past love and questions whether the lonely feeling can be turned around.

Belly Of the Beast is about coming back from the sucker punches that love can throw. With the lines ‘I was falling like a stone, and then you were the parachute holding me, Suddenly weightless and not alone,’ we have the sense that Annie is still standing and coming out fighting. This is a very enjoyable album and the songs are both engaging and rewarding. Definitely a keeper.

Review by Paul McGee

Half Moon Run Salt BMG

Half Moon Run formed in 2009 in Montreal, Canada and they have been making increasingly compelling music ever since their debut appeared in 2012. This is their fourth album and the band is comprised of Devon Portielje, Conner Molander and Dylan Phillips. The Americana genre has a very broad definition these days and we sometimes forget the depth of the original parts that went to make up the whole. Back to indie-folk and alt-country beginnings a movement emerged that was embraced as being all about owning your own sound. That stance for independence has taken many different forms and one of these has been the celebratory sound of Half Moon Run.

The deep groove of Hotel In Memphis is augmented by string arrangements and keyboard experimentation. It is as compelling as the gorgeous melody of Everyone’s Moving Out East with gentle acoustic guitar and cello balanced by the sense of dislocation and isolation in the overall arrangement. The vocal harmonies have a haunting quality in these songs and 9beat offers cause to reflect on that sense of being always in that moment of trying to catch up with yourself, ‘miss the southern sky, miss those bedroom eyes, miss that liar’s tongue, miss the warm goodbye.’

You Can Let Go is a big production sound and a song about laying down the burden in order to feel free and unencumbered, ‘you can let go, that weight you carry with ya, Once and for all.’ Heartbeat is another lovely arrangement with piano and acoustic guitars playing around the brushed percussion in a song about relationships and trying to hold on to something real. All three band members are multi-instrumentalists and the scale of their musical panorama is very compelling. The lyrics can be somewhat obscure, as with the song Alco, and trying to find meaning is left open to interpretation. Probably no bad thing. As the lovely melody of Gigafire builds around the words, the string arrangement and the swirling keyboards, you get the feeling of regret in something that is lost, ‘ this could be your very last chance, before it’s gone forever.’

The more rock oriented groove of Goodbye To Cali is perhaps as close to commercial pop as this trio want to get, but then it contains this classic piano part that just takes the song somewhere else. The title track is a brooding love piece that washes with spectral keyboard sounds and hints at vulnerability in relationships and opening up to someone special. Final track Crawl Back In is another glorious melody with simple acoustic guitar on top and it has that haunted quality again, perhaps a song about being unable to emote and of keeping things locked down inside. No doubt about the obvious talent these musicians have, guaranteed listening pleasure and a definite move towards a new kind of Americana that holds both elements of psychedelic folk and dream pop in equal measure.

Review by Paul McGee

Afton Wolfe Twenty Three Self Release

This 5-track EP is a follow up to the very successful debut album, Kings For Sale, released back in 2021. Wolfe has an engaging vocal, a cross between Tom Waits and Dr John, and his delivery is very much filled with character and personality. He highlights a sense of sad regret on Cry, the horn section creating a soulful atmosphere and the backing vocals of Regina McCrary and Melanie Dewey adding a sweetly appropriate gospel flavour.

A slow melody delivers The Moon Is Going Down, and a reflective tune that covers the hope romance can bring, while the atmospheric Truck Drivin’ Man is a menacing slow burn with violin by Rebecca Weiner Tomkins highlighting the mystery of never really knowing what motivates another person.  So Purple is a track that could be dedicated to the legacy of Prince, with the deep bass lines of Daniel Seymour leading a rhythm that delivers another soulful workout, augmented by some excellent flute playing courtesy of Seth Fox.

The final song, Late Nite Radio, is a standout with an emotive vocal and a building rhythm in celebration of a distant companion for many across the airwaves when you’re perhaps out driving or at home feeling lonely. Chad Stuibe on keyboards and Seth Fox on saxophone provide the dramatics and a sense of longing hangs in the air. Production courtesy of Brett Ryan Stewart is very big and bright with an impressive list of musicians featuring across the tracks. Wolfe has his roots in Mississippi and it shows through in the mix of soulful blues, country noir, and gospel leanings. He now resides in Nashville and is a regular at venues like The Five Spot, Dee’s Country Lounge, Grimey’s, and Basement East. Mixing among the variety of talent in East Nashville leads to an eclectic mix and a dynamic that continues to push Wolfe in the ongoing search for musical excellence.

Review by Paul McGee

Summer Dean The Biggest Life The Next Waltz

A schoolteacher and rancher in a former life and very much a free spirit, at forty years of age Texan Summer Dean bravely abandoned the security of those occupations to follow her dream and launch her career as a professional touring and recording artist. Her 2021 self-released debut full- length album, BAD ROMANTIC, was a straight-talking suite of classic country songs delivered with a swagger and confidence that marked her out as yet another artist inspired by 60s and 70s country.

She has teamed up with Bruce Robison as producer this time around, recording the album at his Bunker studio in Lockhart, Texas. Recorded entirely in analog, without the bells and whistles that could have overproduced the songs, there’s very much a ‘live’ feel to the recording. The thirteen tracks are also evidence of the huge strides Dean has made over the past few years, both as a songwriter and vocalist, the icing on the cake being her winning the 2023 Ameripolitan Music Award for Honky Tonk Female.

To be honest, I had expected the album to be loaded with full-on traditional country barroom ballads. Nothing could be further from the truth. The majority of the tracks are mid-paced country ballads, beautifully delivered vocally and with splashes of pedal steel, fiddles, piano and backing vocals, all in the right places. The songs also reveal a maturity in Dean’s songwriting, with first-hand tales many of which dwell on loneliness, isolation and solitude.

She may be looking in the mirror or directing the lyrics at another on Lonely Girls Lament, as she ponders, ‘I can’t believe you’re forty-one now, you’d think you’d be divorced and done by now….if I ever get my chance, I’d bet I’d still run.’ There’s also no sign of a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow on Other Women. This is the type of songwriting that Brandy Clark excels in, examining the lives and struggles of the average person, hoping to escape mundane and hopeless existences. She returns to the Texan border sound of the title track of BAD ROMANTIC with She’s In His Arms and I’m In The Palm Of His Hand and She Ain’t Me has Tammy Wynette written all over it. Other highlights include the rousing toe tapper Might Be Getting Over You and Clean Up Your Act If You Wanna Talk Dirty To Me, the latter no doubt aiming a wink in the direction of Loretta Lynn.

Summer Dean has crafted an album that salutes both vintage Nashville and contemporary country with THE BIGGEST LIFE.  2023 continues to be a bumper year for country albums, in the main recorded by women, that buck the trend and are retro without simply being carbon copies of the past. Alongside recent albums from her musical sisters, Brennen Leigh, Amanda Fields, Whitney Rose, and Michelle Billingsley, to name but a few, Dean has hit the jackpot with this gem.

Review by Declan Culliton 

Ags Connolly Siempre Self Release

It may seem a lonesome road at times for Ags Connolly as he leads the charge as one of the few ambassadors for traditional country music in the U.K. However, he’s not entirely on his own. His fellow countryman Spencer Cullum, though residing in Nashville, has established himself as one of the most sought-after pedal steel players in Nashville, and Albert Lee, Hank Wangford and Wes McGhee’s careers have found them immersed in roots music for many years.

SIEMPRE translates from Spanish as ‘always’ or ‘forever’ and may be a reference to Connolly’s unapologetic devotion to country music, whether that is the more vintage honky tonk direction of his 2019 album WRONG AGAIN or this latest album which leans slightly more towards a border Texas sound. That’s no surprise, given Connolly’s devotion to the Lone Star State’s music and in particular the output of the late James Hand.

SIEMPRE was recorded at Woodworm Studios in Connolly’s home county of Oxfordshire. Self-produced, local contributions came from Rob Updegraff (guitar), Anna Robison (bass), Chris ‘CJ’ Jones (drums), and premiere British pedal steel player for many decades, B.J. Cole. With the Tex-Mex flavour of the recording requiring a specific style of accordion playing, Connolly called on San Antonia-based Michael Guerra. A regular contributor to The Mavericks, Guerra also featured on WRONG AGAIN. Nashville resident and session player Billy Contreras was brought on board for the fiddle parts. Connolly added banjo contributions himself, having learned to play the instrument prior to the recording. However, the most impressive instrument on display here is Connolly’s voice, which is as rich in emotion as it is in expression. 

The ten-track album - nine originals and a cover of Wes McGhee’s, the Guy Clark sounding, Half Forgotten Tunes - kicks off in fine style with the possibly autobiographical Headed South For A While. Alongside the traditional Tex-Mex tracks, Change My Mind, I Trust My Heart These Days and Senora (Whatever Comes First), are the Joe Ely-flavoured ballad Tell Me What and the trademark Connolly slow-burner Overwhelmed. He signs off with the slow-paced Texan waltz I’d Be Good For You.

Conscious of his British heritage and aware that the album would be aimed as much at his followers in The U.S. as it would at those fans in Europe, Connolly made every effort to ensure that the album authentically represents classic Texan music. He has more than achieved that with SIEMPRE which, no doubt, will expand his fan base further both in The U.S. and closer to home. Often, greatness is closer to home than you realise. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Slackeye Slim Scorched Earth - Black Heart Self Release

On his fourth album Mr Slim (Joe Frankland) continues to explore his individual take on the American West, its landscapes, myths, mortals and music. It is filtered through a sun-drained vision, which is part comic book characters and partly based on the harsh reality of the physical and mental state that living in such a mindset envisions. In some ways, the video for the opening track (Everything Follows This) will tell you as much about his perception as any review might. It is, however, an artistic vision and a musical one that is equally metaphysical and open to interpretation and inquisition. 

There might be a brief relationship with the likes of The Legendary Shackshakers, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, Calexico, Tom Waits and others who have explored their own path in creating music, even if he sounds like none of these. More kindred spirits than flesh and blood influences. This is an honest and personal account that is often bleak but always engaging, and bears taking the time for its subtleties to be revealed and appreciated. To many it will appear off-kilter and off the beaten track often trodden by less inspired performers. 

Over the eleven tracks there are beaten rhythms, twanging guitars, vintage Farfisa organ, piano, banjo, accordion, Spanish guitar and a probably a hell of a lot more, all allowing Slim’s voice to breath the humanity into the body of the music. His may not be the prettiest voice you will hear, but it is the one that understands and articulates the emotions that the stories envision. It is a real voice detailing a person looking to understand his life and find his ways to grow, as he comes to terms with issues and gives them understanding and the space to turn them into a way to achieve growth. This is as true for the listener as it is for the artist.

Like Slackeyed Slim’s previous output, this album will doubtless be received again with glowing terms in certain quarters, whilst being dismissed in others. It was recorded in the way it lived with the basic tracks being cut in a house in Colorado accompanied by Trevor Richards and Jered Davis who recorded it, with drummer Mario Garcia along for the ride. Then Slim took what was an off road solar studio in a camper van out to the desert and canyons to add his vocal, giving them an inspirational and idiosyncratic sound that was purely himself and what was contained in the moment. Davis and Frankland then mixed the album.

The tracks that standout after a number of listens are: Crooked Teeth - with its anvil-like percussion, the barbed wire guitar of Somebody Else’s Name, Mama’s Favourite, that has a deep throat vocal and some Twin Peaks guitar and The Worst Of Me, which has an atypical lyrical stance that runs through much of the album.  This is not an album that dwells on the sunny side of life -  “my father was a joyless piece of shit, and so am I”, through to Godamnit It’s Christmas, equally not one for those enthralled by the spirit of the season. The album closes with the sparse piano and vocal of the equally morose Black Heart.

But in the end this is Slim’s world and the music creates its own territory that many may not want to enter, however those who do will be rewarded with  memorable glimpses of a scorched earth that has its own beauty to behold.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Bruce Cockburn, Eliza Gilkyson, annie.keating, Half Moon Run, Afton Wolfe, Summer Dean Music, Ags Connolly, and Slackeye Slim.

New Album Reviews

Hibsen The Stern Cost Of Living Self Release

This album is the result of a particularly rewarding song writing collaboration between Irish artists Gráinne Hunt and Jim Murphy. Both have been separately nurturing successful careers despite the obvious interruptions of Covid and over the years each has developed a musical maturity and richness in their output that, if somewhat undiscovered, is to be very much admired.

The project name of HIBSEN is a reference to Henrik Ibsen, the Norwegian playwright, whose work influenced a young James Joyce and no doubt inspired him in his own fledgling writings. Taking the short story collection, Dubliners, published back in 1914, Hibsen take on the challenging task of interpreting the fifteen Joyce tales that describe and reflect  the rich variety of Dublin life and the characters that reflected the times.

If Ulysses captures the activities across a single day of Leopold Bloom, the series of short stories in Dubliners highlight the vagaries of daily existence for a range of characters, a number of which were to reappear in the pages of Ulysses when it was eventually published in its entirety in 1922.

The integration of music and words is always a risk in such projects, whether the true essence of the stories can be captured and reflected back in terms of their nuance and their interpretation. Happily no such fears exist in this case and the entire project is an unqualified success and the level of talent on display is hugely impressive. Using a string quartet is an inspired decision and the arrangements benefit from the fluid interplay between Lynda O’Connor (first violin), Paul O’Hanlon (second violin), Beth McNinch (viola) and Gerald Peregrine (cello) across the various songs on which they feature.

Producer Alex Borwick does a stellar job in bringing everything together and Black Mountain Studios in Jenkinstown, Dundalk provided the creative space for the magic to take shape. Borwick also contributes bass, mandolin and backing vocals on the album, in addition to Shay Sweeney (drums, percussion), Alan Doherty (whistle), and Laura Ryder (piano).

The songs involve social, political and religious issues and the scenarios outlined include the frisson between the sexes, drinking, and lives filled with disappointment and regret. Perhaps the most famous of these Joyce stories is The Dead and this track is one of the high points on the album with Hunt’s vocal particularly memorable. Another fine song is Clay, with the traditional Irish arrangement complimenting another fine vocal display, whistle and violin duetting around the melody.

The Boarding House captures the tale of a lodger who seduces the daughter of the landlady, and Counterparts tells of the alcoholic, Farrington, and his journey to satisfy a thirst in various pubs such as O’Neill’s, Davy Byrne’s and the Scotch House. The sensitive delivery of the melancholic A Painful Case is beautifully observed and the sense of isolation in a life not really lived is captured with a poignancy.

Ivy Day In the Committee Room channels the memory of Charles Stewart Parnell, the Irish nationalist politician, who campaigned for Home Rule. After the Race tells the sorry tale of Jimmy Doyle who squanders his inheritance on drinking and gambling, while Two Gallants covers the tale of two scheming fops who steal in order to maintain their brittle and crumbling pursuit of wealth. The album title is used in the chorus of this song as the miscreants live a life of daily self-delusion.

Grace is another tale of descent into drunken ways and the proposed salvation offered by a religious retreat among friends . Throughout the project, the sweetly subtle vocals of Gráinne Hunt are very engaging and co-writer Jim Murphy shines on both guitar and backing vocals, with the shared vocal on The Boundary House a real stand-out. It captures the female perspective of the pain caused by a moment of weakness in falling for the charms of a stranger who debates whether he should now do the honourable thing and marry.

Final word goes to the lyric in The Dead and the lines “If we were young again, if life replayed, We could have been a great affair, if I had stayed.”  A lot of Joyce’s life could be construed as a series of ‘what ifs’ and ‘if onlys’; had he become pursued a career as a singer instead of a writer; his self-imposed exile from Ireland for twenty nine years; his lack of a regular income; his death in Zurich at the young age of 58… However, it is his abiding love affair with both the people and the land of Ireland that provides the legacy to his life and his influence today is as strong as at any point in his life.

The ability to capture the stories contained within Dubliners is no mean feat and the lyrics that have emerged from the co-writing talents of Gráinne Hunt and Jim Murphy are to be greatly admired. No doubt the great man himself would have approved!    

Roots music is a term coined to capture and celebrate the enduring talents of local musicians, no matter the particular region. Ireland boasts a proud tradition of artists, musicians, poets and writers, and there is nothing more fitting than to honour the creativity of one of our greatest literary exports. Hibsen is a wonderful concept and delivered with impressive scale. It is an album that will endure and grow in status as time unfolds and, all things considered should become something of an inspiration for future generations.

Review by Paul McGee

The Remedy Club Back To You Self Release

Starting off their third album with a positive affirmation to parenthood, Aileen Mythen and KJ McEvoy make a strong statement in celebration of life. Dedicated to their daughter, the title track sees this talented couple come out of the traps with all guns blazing in a big production arrangement complete with a driving beat, and fulsome strings building the song dynamic.

The self-reflection of Would You Be So Sure is a statement of enduring love and looking back down the road of a relationship that has matured “The old ghosts of the past, they were never made to last, we laid them down to rest.” The guitars and string arrangement sounding bright and bold. Roll With It is a really excellent r ‘n’ b track with a great horn arrangement and a sassy vocal delivery that urges a robust response to the slings and arrows that life throws our way. The song builds nicely to a climax with the excellent guitar of KJ to the fore.

And so it continues, with the songs alternating between up-tempo buoyant arrangements and more stripped down melodies. There is a heartfelt tribute to Gavin Ralston, musician and producer, who died back in 2019. Gavin was a close friend of the Remedy Cub, and a much loved member of the Irish music community. The sentiment expressed in It’s Alright is just perfect in celebrating the life that he lived and the memories that endure.

Texas Sky is a tip of the hat to the roots music that Remedy Club explored on earlier albums and the country sound of pedal steel (Dave Murphy), adds great atmospherics to the big sky arrangement and a song about living free and easy on the range.

The warm keyboards of producer Gavin Glass are prominent on the soulful track Say A Prayer with nice guitar parts and a fine vocal delivery from Aileen, full of passion and pleading. Backing vocals are provided by Rachel Grace and KJ pops up as a strident preacher with spoken word vocals delivered through a megaphone in the mix. Excellent stuff.

“Time ain’t nothing but a clock on the wall” sings Aileen on the track Write Me A Letter and the wish to just live for the moment and enjoy the days we are given comes through strongly in the impressive production. Co-Producer Gavin Glass really brings his A-game to the mixing console and delivers a really cohesive an impressive album, in tandem with the Remedy Club.

Complicated is another slow burn track, with lovely strings and acoustic guitar reflecting the emotions of the song, referencing the apparent lack of empathy in the world – our journey as a race having taken us to a version of humanity that can be seen as a dichotomy at best.

The excellent Boleyn’s Blues is a highlight with Aileen taking the groove back to younger days when she strutted the boards as B and the Honeyboy, a blues band that released some fine music. On this song the slow tempo is perfectly suited to her vocal phrasing and the atmospheric slide guitar of Gavin Glass joins with the horns and keyboards to add real depth and menace to the arrangement; “Take my head, I don’t need it anyway.”    

Your Light Shines is another country tinged ballad that has musings on our place in the grand plan, wondering where it may all be leading. Worthwhile has a great Dixieland horn arrangement to set the atmosphere with some fine guitar picking and piano parts that complement the easy groove. Final song I’m Coming Home features another great vocal performance from Aileen as the cycle comes full circle and the journey we all face comes around to its natural conclusion. What awaits is a warm and safe place. Again, the arrangement builds and the great production leaves a cathartic feeling.

Throughout this impressive album there are fine performances from Aongus Ralston (bass), Binzer Brennan and Mark Colbert (drums on selected tracks), Dave Murphy (pedal steel), Gavin Glass (keyboards, acoustic and slide guitar, backing vocals), Rachel Grace (glockenspiel and backing vocals), Ellie Greene (backing vocals), Kyshona Armstrong (backing vocals) and brass provided by Michael Buckley and Ronan Dooley. The string section is the Orphan Strings of Gerard Peregrine, Beth McNinch, Jenny Dowdall, Linda O’Connor and Paul O’Hanlon with Liam Bates writing and arranging all the parts.

KJ McEvoy contributes acoustic and electric guitar, in addition to lead and harmony vocals. Aileen Mythen provides lead and harmony vocals and the twelve songs are all written by the couple. The album is a really great listen and a credit to all concerned with the impressive playing and production a testament to these talented musicians. As the liner notes on the album confirm “Fair play to ourselves for hanging in there against all the odds.” It’s a fragile career at best, this music business rollercoaster ride, but Aileen and KJ have stuck at it through all the twists and turns. They deserve to see this album take its place among the best releases of 2023.

Review by Paul McGee

Rodney Crowell The Chicago Sessions New West

This is a welcome step back in time. When it comes to prolific song writers then Rodney Crowell ticks pretty much every box you can think of over his stellar career. In this case it’s very much an approach of ‘less is more’ where we get ten songs written in the classic old traditions of country music. No frills, just simple song structures with understated playing that serve the overall sound in creating lovely melodies.

Crowell came to our attention in the 1970s and his gradual rise to fame and recognition has been a steady path forged through writing for other artists before building a solo career that has taken him to the very top of his game. Over an impressive catalogue of releases, Crowell has established himself as one of the real icons in country music. His writing is deceptively simple with arrangements that are immediate and communicate very straight forward messages. The new album was recorded in a live setting by Jeff Tweedy and  by Tom Schick at Wilco’s Loft in Chicago and there is a real intimacy to the entire project.

Crowell brought three players with him to The Loft — guitarist Jedd Hughes, pianist Catherine Marx, and bassist Zachariah Hickman — while also calling upon John Perrine and Spencer Tweedy (Jeff’s son) to split drumming duties. Jeff Tweedy also appears on vocals, guitars, and banjo throughout.

Across ten tracks and some thirty eight minutes, Crowell delivers a master class on how its supposed to be done. Epitomised by the opener Lucky with a real funky rhythm and a message of love to his wife, Crowell leaves plenty of room for these terrific musicians to stretch and display their many talents. Somebody Loves You follows in a similar vein with a message to keep a grip when life is hard. Lots of groove to the guitars and the piano in the mix here.

Loving You Is the Only Way To Fly is a gentle arrangement and a love song with an uncredited female co-vocal, presumably Catherine Marx, although the video to the single showcases the great vocal talent of Audrey Spillman?  The song, You’re Supposed To Be Feeling Good is another love song but this time out the strains of misunderstanding are in the air, ‘Soulmate, the blues are deceiving, They keep us believing we've been dealt the wrong hand, Last night you told me to wise up, Give the disguise up and walk like a man.’

No Place To Fall follows with a heartfelt plea to accept the frailties in another and show both forgiveness and understanding. This is a suitably reverential version of the Townes van Zandt song that originally appeared on his Flyin’ Shoes album in 1978. Oh Miss Claudia is hugely atmospheric and a swamp blues boat rise through the Mississippi delta in terms of feel and groove. The band excel on this one, with piano and acoustic guitars augmenting the double bass and percussive rhythm.

Everything At Once has Jeff Tweedy on co-vocal and it’s a song that both wrote for the album, ‘Everything at once, ah you lose and you live some, The world on a kite string thread, famine and flood, code red, Just don't let it mess with your head.’ It’s a wry observation on our propensity for immediate gratification in an overstimulated world and the need for us to wake up to bigger issues.

Ever the Dark is a song that looks at negative thoughts and days that seem an endless fight against depression. Fuzz guitar driving the beat and the angst contained in the song ‘Now and then we let a little light in, and then we're back again, drawing the blinds, Ever the dark come calling, ever the sun don't shine.’

Making Lovers Out Of Friends is a classic country song and a tribute to the old style arrangements of days past. It’s a song that looks at the fragile line that exists in a friendship and the risk of crossing over into an ill advised relationship ‘So please don't throw "forever after" at me, If you want to keep me close, then don't be mine, The way to live each day in love and laughter, Is if we never ever cross that line.’

Final song Ready To Move On is a look back down the road travelled and the spoken lyric compliments the lovely playing and the understated melody. Crowell looks at the world that surrounds him and muses on the meaning of it all ‘You know there'll come a day when none of this will matter, It will all be so much mindless chatter.’

This album is a real beauty and a testament to the abiding talent of Rodney Crowell. There is an old saying the “form is temporary, but class is permanent.” It was never in doubt that Crowell remains a beacon in the restless seas of singer songwriters and this album proves that he continues at the very top of his game.

Review by Paul McGee

Brennen Leigh Ain’t Through Honky Tonkin’ Yet Signature Sounds

The majority of artists who are two decades into their recording career, will have taken a swerve in the road along the way and recorded material slightly distanced from their comfort zone. That’s not the case with Brennen Leigh, whose back catalogue is strictly and unapologetically country, whether that be bluegrass, western swing or traditional country. The Fargo, North Dakota-born artist has been most certainly on a roll in recent years and her latest recording follows swiftly in the footsteps of her 2022 collaboration with Asleep at the Wheel, OBSESSED WITH THE WEST and PRAIRIE LOVE LETTER, which was an album of the year at Lonesome Highway in 2020. 

A prolific writer and composer, when the idea landed to create a full-on honky tonk album, Leigh already had a treasure chest of suitable songs written, a number of which were co-written with others following her relocation to Nashville in 2017.To complete the process she sought out the assistance of her close friend Chris Scruggs, who helped to flesh out the songs and also produce the recordings. Their criterion was simply to replicate the sound that came out of Nashville in 1967/ 1968, the era when some of Leigh’s favourite albums were recorded by artists such as George Jones and Melba Montgomery. Scruggs also played electric and acoustic guitar and the other musicians, all Music Row royalty, included Tommy Hannum (pedal steel), Micah Hulscher (piano), Alec Newnam (upright bass), Nate Felty (drums), Aaron Till (fiddle, acoustic guitar) and Marty Stuart (mandolin).

Backed by these exceptionally talented players and with Leigh’s smooth vocals, the final product is a resounding success. Across twelve tracks she more than achieves her objective with an album that has ‘career finest’ stamped all over it. The opener, Running Out Of Hope, Arkansas, written with Silas Lowe, gets the show on the road in fine style and gets my vote as the song of the year so far. Although written ‘tongue in cheek’, it’s hardly going to feature as ‘song of the week’ on KNWA Radio in Arkansas. Next up is a co-write with Tessy Lou Williams, Someone’s Drinking About You, which also featured on Williams’ splendid self-titled album from 2020. The Bar Should Say Thanks and Every Time I Do have George Jones and Melba Montgomery written all over them. Carole With An E - check out the YouTube video - was written with Mallory Eagle, who bookends the track with some CB radio trucker talk. It’s a fun-filled, cleverly written song, but one that also emphasizes the quality of the players that contributed to the live recordings in the studio, with only backing vocals added at a later stage. The title track, heavy on fiddle and pedal steel, is classic country with a capital C. Romance and heartbreak emerge on the mid-paced Every Time I Do, written with Noel McKay and Erin Enderlin, and on the tear-jerker Mississippi Rendezvous.

A free-flowing stream of clever lyrics, beautifully articulated, stellar playing, and awash with melody, Brennen Leigh’s goal may have been to pay homage to some of her cherished albums and artists from that late 60s golden era in Nashville. With songs that sound as if they were cherry picked from classic country standards, she has achieved much more than that. AIN’T THROUGH HONKY TONKIN’ YET can stand proudly alongside many of those treasures, so dear to Leigh’s heart, that emerged from Nashville during that period. Country music has evolved mainly towards mainstream pop since then, but in recent years the pendulum is certainly swinging back to a traditional sound, so the timing is spot on for this superb album.

Review by Declan Culliton

Roseanne Reid Lawside Last Man Standing

Although you’re likely to find Roseanne Reid’s albums in the ever-expanding Americana section at your favourite Independent Record Store, the Edinburgh-born artist’s output should more accurately be classified as folk music. LAWSIDE is her second full album and if the title sounds like it was inspired by a hard-boiled crime novel, nothing could be further from the truth. It is in fact a reference to a suburb in Dundee, Scotland, which Roseanne now calls home and where she happily resides with her wife and baby son. That title is a statement of contentment and happiness and those sentiments very much ring through on this thirteen-track album.

The most refreshing aspect of Roseanne’s albums, both this one and her debut record TRAILS, is the honesty and placidness in her music. She sings confidently and passionately in her own brogue, navigating across a variety of emotions, mainly heartening in essence. The album also finds her promoting her Celtic heritage, and why not? The introduction of fiddle and banjo on tracks like Daisy Chain, Mona Lisa and What Constitutes A Sin adds an elegant dimension to both songs, without ever distracting from her vocals and the tales she delivers. Although laid back and low-key in the main, the song selected as the first single from the album, Call It Love, is a bustling affair. With a heavy brass section, it recalls Van Morrison’s Celtic soul output period, which once more suggests Reid’s ‘close to home’ influences.

The focus on contentment and optimism are very much to the fore on the love songs Couldn’t Wish More For You and Made Just For You, the latter written in anticipation of the arrival of Reid’s son. Shine On - a particular favourite of mine - recalls early career Joan Armatrading and she closes with the gentle ballad Take Your Time.

Unlike TRAILS, which was recorded in Brooklyn over a five-day period, the recording this time around took place over multiple visits to the studio and was produced by multi-instrumentalist, Dave Macfarlane. That relaxed arrangement suited Reid’s lifestyle and is evident in the final product. While sticking to the template that has worked particularly well in her career to date, her vocals are more confident, assured and very much in the front of the mix.

Joining Steve Earle on his upcoming solo tour and booked to perform at numerous festivals this summer, will no doubt, attract many more devotees to the literate songwriting and novel vocals of an artist mastering her skills as a writer and singer.

If TRAILS was a welcome introduction to the musical world of Roseanne Reid, this polished set of songs raises the bar by many notches.

Review by Declan Culliton

Michelle Billingsley Both Sides of Lonely Western Myth

“At times perturbing, seldom polite, more often than not irreverent and frequently amusing,” is how we described Chicago-based Michelle Billingsley’s debut album, NOT THE MARRYING KIND, back in 2019. It also offered the listener an introduction to an artist embracing traditional country music and giving a wide berth to the dreaded mainstream pop/country crossover music so popular with country music radio stations in America.

With copious amounts of searing pedal steel, thumping bass lines, slick guitar breaks and quivering vocals, this latest self-produced album finds Billingsley travelling even deeper into honky tonk territory. The eleven tracks - ten self-penned and a cover of Tennessee Waltz - were recorded at JamDeck Studios in Chicago and mixed by Doug Malone. The players are in vintage form throughout, complementing Billingsley’s sweet vocals. They are her trusted rhythm section of Brian Westfall on bass and Jordan Snow on drums, alongside guest player Brian Wilkie on guitar and pedal steel.

As was the case with her debut album, Billingsley’s straight-talking lyrics are as clever as they are caustic, covering familiar themes of jilted love, hangovers, random one-night stands, and lots of regrets. She recalls a two-timing charmer on the opener, I Love The Way He Says He’s Sorry and the same ‘unlucky in love’ storyline unfolds in the two-stepper Bad Case Of The Blues, complete with yodelling and slick guitar playing. The price of a passionate, albeit loveless fling, arises in Trouble Walkin’ and Tammy Wynette’s Stand By Your Man sentiment is questioned in Him, Her and Me. Neither are there happy endings on both Sense Of Smell (‘Funny what he left behind, dirty clothes, lie after lie. But it’s worse what he took, he took your hope’) or the casual one-night stand in Wichita.

It's not all lonesome, regret and heartache, well nearly not all. The acoustic closing track, Joshua, which features vocal, acoustic guitar and cello, is an altogether darker and post-apocalypse affair.  As two individuals come to terms with, what could be, the end of the world, (‘Word is from the top, there wasn’t even a war, just someone fell asleep on the button’), it’s a pointer towards Billingsley’s capability of also writing outside her comfort zone.

BOTH SIDES LONELY, in addition to being a noble effort by Billingsley in keeping real country music alive, has turned the heat up a couple of notches from her debut album. And if anyone is wondering about her state of mind given the misery and anguish in many of the songs, I’ll leave the last words to Michelle. ‘I’ve got a whole new sound, a new record. My voice is stronger than ever. I’ve got a ring on my finger. I’ve got a dog now. And my band and I have really grown with this album.’

Review by Declan Culliton

Laura Cantrell Just Like A Rose: The Anniversary Sessions Propellor

Nine years after the release of her last album, NO WAY THERE FROM HERE, and three years after its intended release, JUST LIKE A ROSE: THE ANNIVERSARY SESSIONS, has finally seen the light of day. What was to be a 20th-year celebration of Cantrell’s debut album, NOT THE TREMBLIN’ KIND, fell foul of the pandemic and led to a piecemeal recording of the eleven tracks on the new album. With five producers listed, as many co-writers and contributions from a host of players, many being household names, the end product could very well have been a misfired and disconnected album. Remarkably, nothing could be further from the truth, and despite the ‘all hands-on deck’ approach, the final mix hangs together extremely well.

Recorded in studios both in Cantrell’s birth city, Nashville and in New York where she currently resides, she wears a coat of many colours, fusing full-on roots rockers in the company of more laid-back tunes. She kicks off with two co-writes with founding member of Nashville's Planet Rockers and former bass player with Emmylou Harris’ Nash Ramblers, Mark Winchester. Both written on the same afternoon, the opener Push The Swing is a crunching rocker, followed by a pedal steel-washed country ballad, Bide My Time. Her long-time guitar sideman, Mark Spencer, co-wrote the album’s standout track, Like A Rose. Written in deference to Rosie Flores, an artist much admired by Cantrell since her college days, it’s one that had me hitting the repeat button. Flores was also invited on board to produce that track and the Amy Rigby composition, Brand New Eyes.

A reconstructed version of When The Roses Bloom Again features shared vocals with Steve Earle, Buddy Miller on guitar, and the inclusion of uilleann pipes by Ivan Goff is in recognition of the support Cantrell has enjoyed in the U.K. and Europe. She reminisces on the New York of her college days in I’m Going To Miss This Town and friends and family distanced during the dark days of lockdown fuelled the melodic ballad Holding You In My Heart. The Paul Burch produced Secret Language is a stunning inclusion and all the better for Fats Kaplin’s dreamy pedal steel.  

JUST LIKE A ROSE is the essence of what Laura Cantrell is all about. Looking over her shoulder and journeying through a wide canvas of personal plights, it’s a delightfully accessible album of roots songs that both console and delight. It’s also a heart-warming addition from an artist that never appears to put a foot wrong. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Tanya Tucker Sweet Western Sound Fantasy

With two Grammy Awards under her belt for her 2019 album, WHILE I’M LIVIN’, it’s no surprise that Tanya Tucker worked with the same production team, Brandi Carlisle and Shooter Jennings, for SWEET WESTERN SOUND. The template also remains faithful to its predecessor, with Tucker’s husky vocals delivering ten slickly produced tracks, one of which, Breakfast In Birmingham, was co-written with Carlisle and also features her vocal contribution.

The album opens with a short ‘voice mail generated’ intro titled Tanya, from her close friend, the late Billy Joe Shaver (‘the glow from the light all around her shows off her beauty so well, she looks like a heavenly angel but Tanya’s meaner than hell’) and merges into Kindness, written by Carlisle’s sidemen, the Hanseroth twins, and the first single taken from the album.

The piano-led Ready As I’ll Never Be and Waltz Across A Ballad are thoughtful mid-tempo ballads and she goes full-on country with the toe-tapping, tongue-in-cheek, and pedal steel-driven, The List. The gorgeous Letter to Linda is a kind hearted ode to Linda Ronstadt, whose influence on Tucker’s career as a young teen artist was significant.

It’s remarkable that after such a successful five-decade career Tucker was only this year inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame alongside Patty Loveless, the first time in history that two women were inducted in one year. The success of WHILE I’M LIVIN’ was instrumental in that overdue recognition and SWEET WESTERN SOUND is likely to mirror the success of that record. She’s in fine voice throughout and with  smooth production and co-writes with Bernie Taupin, JT Nero, Billy Don Burns and Craig Dillingham, together with self-written material, she doesn’t put a foot wrong. She’s not going anywhere either and I suspect that her ingrained outlaw spirit will continue to shine going forward.

Review by Declan Culliton

Cowboy Junkies Such Ferocious Beauty Cooking Vinyl

The last studio album from lo-fi Canadians Cowboy Junkies, SONGS FROM THE RECOLLECTION released last year, was a trawl through earlier much-loved songs that cemented their musical direction as a band. Siblings Michael, Peter and Margo Timmons, alongside Alan Anton, have been releasing music since their debut album WHITES OFF EARTH NOW in 1986, which was followed two years later by their breakthrough album, THE TRINITY SESSIONS. Remarkably, the personnel in the band remains unchanged, as does their unique experimental lo-fi, alt-country sound.

Their modus operandi has also changed little over the decades. Michael Timmons, the eldest sibling, is the main songwriter and on this album much of the material considers mortality, ageing and survival. The opening track, What I Lost, (‘I woke up this morning, I didn’t know who I was’) is a passionate recollection of the last months of their father’s life as he struggled with dementia and memories of his full and adventurous life slipped away. Shadows 2, inspired by the D.H. Lawrence poem Shadows, also reflects on their father’s death and the bedside visits at those times.

David Bowie’s Five Years was the opening track on SFTR, and his influence can be heard on the stand-out track, Flood. With mortality and continuing survival as the recurring theme, it’s awash with gloriously distorted guitar alongside Margo’s crystal clear vocal. In contrast, the relative calmness of Circe And Penelope speaks of loss and remorse, amplified by aching violin. Its darkness and rawness are matched by the stripped-back and acoustic Hell Is Real. Hard to Make, Easy to Break, is driven by a thumping bass line and Hendrix-style guitar breaks and they close the album on a ruminative note with Blue Skies, a reminder that our dreams and ambitions are not always achievable and living in the moment is often a less challenging option.

With over twenty albums in their armoury, Cowboy Junkies’ elegant songwriting, classy arrangements, and Margo’s prime enunciation remain as striking and vital as ever. They have once more crystallised that signature sound on SUCH FEROCIOUS BEAUTY, with a thought-provoking collection of songs that touch on the grinding reality of life and the passage of time.

Declan Culliton

Hibsen, The Remedy Club, Rodney Crowell, Brennen Leigh, Roseanne Reid, Michelle Billingsley Music, Laura Cantrell, Tanya Tucker and Cowboy Junkies.

New Album Reviews

Caleb Elliott Weed, Wine & Time Single Lock

My introduction to the music of the Muscle Shoals classically trained cellist, Caleb Elliott, was his 2019 album FOREVER TO FADE. Described as ‘swamp art rock’, its blend of soulful summery tunes, bordering on prog at times, was a breath of fresh air and it was an album that I found myself returning to quite regularly that year.

WEED, WINE & TIME follows a similar musical template. Recorded at the Florence, AL studio Sun Drop Sound, Elliott teamed up once more with Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes, John Paul White, Lera Lynn) to co-produce the eleven tracks. They work their magic throughout, incorporating strings, keys and gentle harmony vocals in all the right places and also creating some dreamy radio-friendly gems. The opener Sweeter Paradigm and Sister, which follows, are cases in point. The former is an exceptionally well-constructed instantly catchy nugget and the latter, motivated by his sister’s struggle with cancer, is simply beautiful and the album’s standout track.

Echoes of Neil Young and Dylan Le Blanc were close to the surface on Elliott’s debut album and appear again here on the grungy No Telling. He’s equally at home dishing out more laid-back ballads Warships and Union Of Strangers or foraying into soulful prog on the duet Isolation with AJ Haynes of Seratones.  

Maybe it’s the weed or the wine, but WW&T is every bit as trippy and funky as its predecessors and is an equally impressive and easy on the ear creation from one very laid-back dude.

Review by Declan Culliton

Dean Owens El Tiradito (the curse of sinner’s shrine) CRS

Recorded at WaveLab Studios in Tuscon, Arizona, and released in 2022, SINNER’S SHRINE evolved from Dean Owens’ sessions with Joey Burns, John Convertino and a host of their Calexico collaborators and players. Following on from that delightful suite of desert border sun-drenched songs, Owens has released EL TIRADITO. It’s a double album, one disc featuring instrumentals that did not make the cut for SINNERS SHRINE and another disc that gathers together the material that appeared on Owens’ three-disc release, THE DESERT TRILOGY EPs. Reworkings of two tracks, La Lomita and The Hopeless Ghosts, are also included as bonus tracks.

The legend behind the title EL TIRADITO is one of passion, lost love and tragedy and is marked by a ‘sinners’ shrine’ to the present day. The location marks the spot in Tucson, Arizona, where a ranch hand, following a passionate affair with the wife of his boss, was murdered by the rancher, who in turn is scalped by Apaches while on the run. The eight instrumental tracks that feature were written by Owen as a soundtrack of an imagined ‘spaghetti western’ movie telling the tale of those ill-fated events of unbridled passion, danger and chaos.

Standout tracks previously recorded on THE DESERT TRILOGY EPs and featured are the haunting Dolina, adorned by Jacob Valenzuela’s booming trumpet, and the quite stunning Riverline, with Owens’ by now trademark whistling working alongside slick guitar playing by Naim Amor. Others that make their mark are the eerie murder ballad The End and the evocative Ashes & Dust.

The quality of the material aside, credit goes to James Morrison and Luisa Carmela Casasanta for the striking artwork for this and, indeed, for all the previous album covers from the project. This is most likely the final chapter in what has been a purple patch in the Leith, Edinburgh, singer songwriter’s musical career to date. Having said that, I suspect that the lure of the burning deserts, the Morricone-themed western soundtracks, and those mariachi horns, may raise their heads once more in future Dean Owens projects.

Review by Declan Culliton

Leftover Salmon Grass Roots Compass

Credited as one of the principal forefathers of the burgeoning newgrass/jamgrass scene, Colorado-based Leftover Salmon have dipped their toes into every sub-genre of acoustic bluegrass over the band’s three-decade existence. The current line-up of the band is made up of founding members Vince Herman (guitar) and Drew Emmitt (mandolin), Greg Garrison, Andy Thorn (banjo), Alwyn Robinson (drums) and recent recruit Jay Starling (dobro, keyboards).

Joined by wonder kid Billy Strings founding member of The David Grisman Quintet, Darol Anger and the frontman of The Wood Brothers, Oliver Wood, the band reconstruct bluegrass standards on the album and put their individual stamp on songs by Bob Dylan (Simple Twist Of Fate), The Grateful Dead (Black Peter), Link Wray (Fire and Brimstone), Tony Rice (Blue Railroad Train), and David Bromberg (The New Lee Highway Blues). Much of this featured material is songs and tunes that Herman and Emmitt originally performed in The Salmon Heads and The Left Hand String Band prior to forming Leftover Salmon.

As you would expect, the playing is exemplary throughout and no more so than on the racy instrumental Nashville Skyline Rag, with Billy Strings adding additional guitar firepower, and the raging Riding On The L&M.

Readers already familiar with the back catalogue of Left Over Salmon won’t need any convincing to get on board GRASS ROOTS and with the ever-growing interest in the genre from a younger audience, the album is likely to spread their word much farther afield.

Review by Declan Culliton

Kassi Valazza Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing Loose

HIGHWAY SOUNDS, a four-track EP from 2022, was my initial introduction to the musical world of Portland-based singer songwriter, Kassi Valazza. That encounter, impressive as it was, led me back to her 2019 album DEAR DEAD DAYS. Both recordings were a gateway into the sonic leanings of an artist who seemed every bit at home pouring her heart out with a country ballad as she was executing a sophisticated and often cosmic-leaning folk song.

Splendid as those recordings are, her latest album, KASSI VALAZZA KNOWS NOTHING, raises the bar a considerable number of notches. There is a consistency and noticeable common ground across the ten tracks on the album that suggests an artist that knows exactly what she’s doing. The overall mood of the album is a trawll through the intimate space in the creator’s personality. Relationships are recalled, possibly with as much regret as fondness, leaving the listener to interpret the song’s often romantic inner meanings. 

An anxious live performer by admission, Valazza cut her teeth on the live circuit as a backing vocalist with the late Patrick Haggerty’s country band, Lavender Country before concentrating on a solo career. Despite her stage unease, intense and spellbinding live performances and the quality of her writing have created a growing audience and interest in her work. This latest suite of songs perfectly captures what she’s about. The album’s title is taken from the name of Valazza’s studio band, TK & The Know Nothings, and their low-key arrangements are the perfect foil for Valazza’s calculated and gently delivered tales.

The isolation and loneliness of life on the road emerge in the postcard-type lyrics of Room In The City and matching apprehension and self-doubt populate Long Way From Home (‘I’d rather be lonely than be on my own’). Darkness also seeps through on the hauntingly lonesome sound of Smile. While much of the album maintains a consistent sonically-muted ambience throughout, the stand-out track, Watching Planes Go By, allows her band to drift off into a trippy meander mid-song, stretching the song to the six-minute mark. She closes the album with a cover of Michael Hurley’s Wildgeeses. It’s a fitting tribute to the free-spirited artist and poet who was an integral part of the Greenwich folk scene in the 60s and 70s and is revered by Valazza. It also mirrors the decades where the album finds its closest links, whether that is the classic folk sounds of the East and West of America or those of English folk at that time.

Far from a Saturday night listen, KASSI VALAZZA KNOWS NOTHING is an enthralling portal into the music and compositions of an imaginative mind. Backed by some very talented players and with a silver-voiced vocalist, it’s both fiercely intensive and deeply absorbing. 

Review by Declan Culliton

GracieHorse L.A.Shit Wharf Cat

After an eight-year hiatus, Los Angeles-based GracieHorse’s return to the recording studio has been well worth the wait. Previously a member of Boston-duo Fat Creeps, Gracie (Jackson) has constructed a nine-track album with twang, edginess, and psychedelia in all the right places, bringing to mind the many experimental acts that earned the alt-country tag in the late- 20th century.

Rather than pre-meditated, the writing and recording process came about by happenchance. A nurse by profession, Gracie was recovering from a work-related injury and that misfortune, alongside the pandemic, found her revisiting previously written songs and also creating newer material. Calling on a number of L.A. players, including members of Cairo Gang, Ty Segal and Bonnie Prince Billy, she recorded the album at Jonny Kosmo’s Slime House Recordings.

Reinvigorated and with quite a lot to say, Gracie’s gritty vocal deliveries and sharp lyrics, alongside that crew of players, deal with multiple issues, from the grinding reality of survival in both L.A. and an unforgiving music industry. The gilt-edged opener, Hollow Head, laced with pedal steel and razor-sharp guitar breaks, is a defiant statement of setting free and taking control. Equally gorgeous are the country noir What I’m Missing and the banjo-led and even darker, Northwind.  It’s not all totally avant-garde either, Backup Slowly is a witty barroom country affair and If You’re Gonna Walk That Way Son, It’s Only Gonna Hurt - great title – doffs its cap in the direction of Neil Young. Bookending the album, with the expressiveness of a movie score, is the twangy and galloping Words Of The New West.  

The highest compliment I can pay this album is that I found myself revisiting it regularly after a few initial plays and enjoying it more on each listen. It epitomises what is so appealing about like-minded acts like Jim White, Freakwater, Blue Mountain, and others who, ignoring the mainstream, step into unchartered territories to create arrangements packed with left-of-centre diversions.

Review by Declan Culliton

Tapestri Tell Me World Shimi

Tapestri formed after the chance meeting in 2019 of two already well established Welsh bilingual folk artists, Sarah Zyborska (aka SERA) and Lowri Evans. Judging by this, their debut album, this was a creative match made in heaven. From the Everly-esque harmonies (so good that they could be mistaken for siblings), the sensitive intelligent songwriting, the memorable tunes, and the Americana flavoured production, it’s not a surprise that they are classed firmly within the newly coined Cymrucana genre.

Anyone who has had any involvement with the tyranny of domestic violence, either as a victim or supporting those victims (as I have), will quickly recognise that the upbeat title track is actually written from the viewpoint of the unfortunate victim. It expresses the conflicted feelings she experiences as she attempts to gather the courage to leave, wavering between staying or going, in this case spurred on by the love for her child - ‘you raise your hand/I raise a child/she deserves better than this’. Female empowerment is again celebrated in Waiting In the Background, an exploration of the changing role of women from the 50’s through to the present day.

As well as sharing vocals throughout, both women play keyboards and Lowri Evans also plays acoustic guitar. Evans co-produces with Lee Mason, who contributes guitars and organ. They are bolstered by Dave Walsh on drums, Jake Newman on bass, and Henry Priestman on Hammond. We’re introduced to the sweet pedal steel of David Hartley on the outstanding Save Your Love, a bittersweet song of unrequited love, with the protagonist attempting to let her lover down gently, ‘I will be your lover/but I won’t be your wife’. She’s A Lover, with its gentle acoustic guitar, upright bass and piano, celebrates the sassy older woman that we all recognise - she ‘doesn’t always believe your stories/ doesn’t always believe her own’ but ‘she’ll never leave you lonely’ and ‘she’ll have one more ride on the rodeo’. Hartley’s pedal steel also adds magic on several other tracks, including Genes, prompted by the birth of Zyborska’s daughter and on Atgofian/Sweet Memories (sung in Welsh) which was inspired by the emigration of Evan’s great aunt to the US in the 40’s, never to see her family or Wales again. Come Alive appears to return to the character we first met in Tell Me World, but this time she is beginning to blossom in the morning sun after a long period in the darkness, her release celebrated in the swelling and cascading harmonies. Mention must also be made of the other Welsh language track, Y Fflam/Open Flame, where the powerful feeling of being in love also carries inherent risk, like the moth to the proverbial flame.

Completed by a nature and music inspired cover art, this is an album I urge you to seek out and enjoy.

Review by Eilís Boland

JD Darling Looking Forward Thinking Back Self Release

Another hard-working farmer, JD Darling takes care of his acres and during that time he also thinks about the music he makes. He is living in Tennessee currently, though he was previously based in Texas and was born in Alabama, and as a result, has been listening to country music most of his life. He has a special love for the artists who released albums that came out in the 90s. The opening song on this lengthy sixteen-track debut album focuses on that era, as do some of the sounds on this album, though he is not strictly trying to mimic what made the charts then - and perhaps those albums would not do so now. Though that may be something of a debate, given that there is a growing interest in what now seems more of a golden age for music that, good or bad, was identifiably country.

We get into the heart of the album early on with tracks like Some Are Lonely Nights. A tale of possibilities which is given a suitable slow paced reading that highlights its poignancy. Much of these themes are based on personal feelings and observations. You Can Feel It references “the boys of summer out west” and their hopes and fears. One Way Or Another appears to be about a sense of duty out on the range or in other circumstances. Hell No (All The Time) is about saying no to change, no matter how well it is being sold or even, perhaps, needed. Other immediate standouts include I’ll Swing By Sometime and Hold On To Me in which Darling’s vocal delivery is notable. There are also times when the band rock out, which gives the album another direction that fits the overall scheme.

The album was recorded over a period of time in Nashville and from the fifteen musicians listed it appears to have taken place over a period of time, allowing Darling and co-producer John Kennedy the space for the sound and vision to find itself. One of the things that was important to integrate into the sound was the pedal steel. It appears throughout the album’s tracks and allows four different musicians to be credited with the instrument. 

All the material was written by Darling, who has been true to himself, his surroundings, and to his music. With sixteen tracks there are naturally going to be favourites for all listeners but that doesn’t mean it can’t be taken in sequence either. These are solid performances from all involved who give life to the songs and make for a satisfactory listen. That allows for looking forward to a better time while retaining some of the real values of the past history of country music, especially for those in thrall to the sound of 90s radio.

An artist like J.D. Darling is unlikely to be looking to see his future entirely in the music business, but at the same time, it offers a balance to a grounded farm working existence, which in turn has informed his music and outlook. Like some other similar artists, he has put his heart and soul into making this album. That in itself makes it worth a listen or two at least. 

Review by Stephen Rapid

Whitney Rose Rosie MCG

Canadian songwriter Whitney Rose grew up listening to, and singing songs from, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton and Kitty Wells, which were the touchstones alongside Hank Williams, George Jones and Keith Whitley on the male side. It was from these she developed her own traditionally influenced sound. This new album is her fifth since 2012, and carries on her path to hone her songwriting craft. On this album, all but one track are self-penned originals, touching on the concerns of womanhood, relationships and locations that are steeped in meaning for the characters.

Rose co-produced the album with husband Michael McKeown and they brought in some familiar names to bring the right feel to the album with the Lisa Pankratz and Brad Fordham rhythm section, and Dave Leroy Biller and Rich Brotherton on guitars (and stringed instruments of different varieties). Warren Hood was the fiddle and strings man, while Michael Guerra added accordion on occasion. Trevor Nealon played keyboards and Bonnie Montgomery sang backing vocals. A top class team who excels througout.

Rose opens the album with soft, sultry vocals on the alluring Tell Me A Story, Babe. The only song not written by Rose but by Joanne Mackell follows and that is Can’t Remember Happiness, a song steeped in regret, as are many of her own songs as they come in the wake of a serious illness that forced her to return to Canada to recover. The songs Built My Own Jail and Minding My Own Pain relate directly to the idea of confinement both physically and mentally. The former is about a deliberate isolation from possible harm and the latter about the casual conversation that happens in bars while she listens but sits quietly trying to look after her own thoughts and worries. Vocally she excels and the band supports her sense of isolation.

By way of contrast she alleviates that to a degree by thinking of a Honky Tonk In Mexico. She wishes to be there to let off steam a little. More of a groove underpins Memphis In My Mind, which takes a similar mental journey to that particular place of memories. The sliding sensuous steel guitar that features alongside the piano and fiddle make You’re Gonna Get Lonely a statement of intent for country music lovers. Then, she takes on the need to feel some hurt in order to say I Need A Little Shame, with the organ adding some soul to that pain. 

The album finishes with Barb Wire Blossom and the idea of something not seeming what it might be on the surface. A touch lighter and more whimsical is the final track. Again both highlight the strength and diversity of Rose’s strong writing and a reinvigorated vocal delivery. Mermaid In A Pantsuit is a gentle and aquatic sound that use the vocal and backing vocal to illuminate an atmospheric mood that has some less country, but equally effective, guitar lines.

Overall, this is a welcome return for Whitney Rose and quite possibly her best to date. Given the times that went into its making, it is that much more remarkable for what she has achieved, in the wake of what was undoubtably a difficult time. However this is an album that isn’t. 

Review by Stephen Rapid

Joey Frendo Bound For Heartache Horton

From the get-go, this album from the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based artist draws you in, with this debut full-length album that has echoes of some mid to late 90s alt-country. A mix of country rock edges and red-dirt twang that is grounded with some organ and piano pedal steel, some of that provided by fellow artist of that parish, one Jesse Aycock, one of eight players who grace these story-laden grooves. Others include Paul Griffith on drums and Fats Kaplin on fiddle.The essentials of this are, again, a strong vocal delivery and some strong writing craft. 

Witness the song (and single) Old Fashioned Country Singer which mentions Hank Williams in its evocation of the world weary subject’s life and times which, though hard, wouldn’t be changed. It has a sense of acceptance, that in despite of everything, this is the only way to go (out) and it is enhanced by some edgy playing. It is an immediate keeper. Sad State of Affairs is more straight up country and both tracks are stand-outs that let you know that this a serious set of songs played out for you.

Following on from pandemic restrictions and personal loss, Frendo channeled these events into some career making songwriting. The story of the accused outlaw in Leaving’ Eden knowing that “the sherrif’s on my track” fits the pattern of some of those tales that the best town might be the one you just left - for a myriad of reasons. There are ballads too that are rooted in specific places, such as Nebraska Rain, a harmonica featuring rumination on being down and out and wondering what might be life’s solution to this.  

In a more considered take on one’s fortunes, he reasons that there’s Nothing Wrong With Silver, especially when gold is hard to find. The risky business of trying to find one’s place is laid out in Building On Quicksand, something that is always open to deeper consideration, but one often needs to start laying down foundations somewhere.

These are the everyday stories of everyday people delivered in a way that country music has done, when it’s done with a sense of honesty, since it first was recognised as a form. Frendo is not rooted in the past, nor trying to recreate a different decade. Rather, he has taken its truths as his own and made them a part of his journey to finding his own path, and BOUND FOR HEARTACHE is full of the human touches that make that journey special.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Caleb Elliott, Dean Owens, Leftover Salmon, Kassi Valazza, GracieHorse, Tapestri Music, JD Darling, Whitney Rose and Joey Frendo

New Album Reviews

Marty Stuart & The Fabulous Superlatives Altitude Snakefarm

There are elements to this new album from Stuart and his band that go back to their last release WAY OUT WEST, as well as to time spent working with surviving Byrds members Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman. But they also go back further in time to the late 60s and an exploration of that cosmic psychedelic influence that began to appear in many forms and genres of music, in some subtle and some not quite so subtle ways. That Stuart is a stalwart of traditional country and its values is apparent in his music, photography and curation of the artefacts of a form that for a time was being eroded. Many can be seen at his recently opened museum, Congress Of Country Music in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Here, with this new album, he and the band and guests create a vision that includes the expansion and exploration of the traditional forms.

Few who have followed his career will be surprised at this and the different twist and turns he has taken musically since he played with The Sullivans at the age of 12 and through over 20 plus albums since 1982. These have taken in rockabilly, gospel, bluegrass, country, surf sounds,  rock and soundtrack music along the away. Many of these can be found in the tracks here.

The album opens with the instrumental Lost Byrd Space Train (Scene 1) which to these ears has a relationship with the music played by The Byrds themselves in their Clarence White incarnation. It also has hints of Mali as well as the Mojave. Then the twang springs into action with the resumé of a life on the road that is Country Star. The chiming Rickenbacker that is central to Sitting Alone is a sound further emphasised by its 60s rock harmonies. There is perhaps in the song A Friend Of Mine something of a nod to the similarly titled but differently intentioned Byrds song, He Was A Friend Of Mine. It again completely accentuates just how good a band this is, with its musical interaction and energy. 

Much more atmospheric is Space, with Stuart’s sitar providing a link to that instrument’s very specific tone and place in rock music, either with the established Indian original form or with its, more common, electric approximation. The title track follows and it is a summation of an attitude and vision that is everything you would expect from Stuart. There is more of that sparkle in Vegas, which is a hymn to that fabled town’s reputation for riches but equally also for ruin.

The Sun Is Quietly Sleeping takes a more considered approach, featuring an effective string arrangement under the gentle reflection of the night. Lost Byrd Space Train (Scene 2) is another short instrumental interlude that offers an effective cleanser before Night Riding takes a trip down the highway of life. Next they turn up the tempo, with some Luther Perkins licks and more dexterous guitar runs, for the story of Tomahawk, which tells us that there is “absolutely nothing new underneath the sun.” The plight of the Native American people forms part of its story and journey. Time To Dance is just that, as it extols some of the better moments in having time to dance, love and live. It features more of the band’s great guitar interactions. By way of contrast The Angels Came Down strips things back to something more spiritually enhancing, with Marty’s rich vocal delivery and some strong vocal harmony blending over the acoustic guitar’s reflection. Lost Byrd Space Train (Scene 3) is a very short instrumental coda that finishes what is a captivating listen that should be take in context, from start to finish, to reveal all its lasting allure.

Produced with conviction and clarity by Stuart and his superlative band of Kenny Vaughan, Harry Stinson and Chris Scruggs and the indispensable Mick Conley, this is a tour de force that will be welcomed by fans of the band. It is a demonstration of how to take country music down new channels, ones that fit with its deep history but also aware of optional routes that seem right. 

Review by Stephen Rapid

Luke Daniel Rock 'n' Roll Americana Edgewater

The title of Texan Luke Daniels’ debut album is simple and to the point. With a core sound ranging from Southern Rock to what was once known as Cowpunk, he pours his heart and soul out on the nine-track record.

He’s out of the blocks with a full-throttle on the opener Lost In The Gap and only occasionally takes his foot off the gas. He does allow time for reflection on the acoustic slow burner, Dig In, and Saturday travels from mid-tempo to a rap-like vibe, but he’s at his best spitting fire on the toe-tapping barroom rocker Get My Shit Together and the funky Bad Gas Travels Fast. Dusty Rhodes is a tongue-in-cheek serenade to an imaginary suitor and he’s just about happy with his lot on Doing Pretty Good.

Produced by Derek Hames at his Edgewater Studio in Sugar Land, Texas, the former member of Three-Car Garage and Red Scare recreates a sound that crackles with energy and no doubt replicates what can be expected from Daniel in a live setting.

There is a lot of groove and understated humour on Daniel’s debut album. His lyrics fit the songs like a hand in a glove and without attempting to reinvent the wheel, he has delivered an impressive album of hard-edged heartland Americana. Go and see him live if he’s in your neck of the woods, I can only imagine that he puts on a more than lively show.

Review by Declan Culliton

Angelica Rockne The Rose Society Loose

 Voted Best Country Singer by LA Weekly back in 2019, that accolade, though richly deserved, might suggest that Californian Angelica Rockne’s music output is restricted to one single genre. In reality her music branches far and wide beyond country and if her debut album, QUEEN OF SAN ANTONIO from 2017, was a tour de force in cosmic country, her latest record travels far beyond that genre. THE ROSE SOCIETY also brings on board Rockne’s classical, jazz and folk influences, and they merge beautifully across the album’s ten tracks.

A number of issues in Rockne’s life in the six years between her debut album and this record are visited in the songwriting. Following a less than fulfilling move from Oakland  to Los Angeles, Rockne departed that city and its hectic culture to return to a more relaxed environment, met her fiancé and celebrated the birth of her daughter. THE ROSE SOCIETY addresses its author’s personal journey over that period, navigating its way across a variety of emotions, from remorse to fulfillment.

Recorded in Nevada City, California and self-produced, the opening two songs, Age of the Voyeur and the title track, immediately give the listener a flavour of the multi-influences in the writer’s cannon. Parallel to her Laurel Canyon influences, echoes of British folk also emerge, the title track, in particular, has shades of Sandy Denny-era Fairport Convention but with a West Coast overhaul. Relationships and friendships struggling to survive emerge on White Cadillac and that theme of lovelorn despair is close to the surface on The Distance Is High and also the tender and confessional album closer The Night Dreams of You. The prayer-like Protection, Prayers and Vigilance brings to mind the novel soulful sound of Canadian, Frazey Ford, and closer to home, Crystalline recalls early career Joni Mitchell.

Showcasing both Rockne’s vocal ability and the dexterity of the musicians around her, THE ROSE SOCIETY captures everything that is so exciting when an artist can integrate numerous musical styles and produce a body of work that is impossible to brand or pigeonhole. Five years in the making and fiercely intense and first-hand, let’s hope that it is an introduction to an artist with more strings to her bow rather than a one-off classic. Intoxicating.  

Review by Declan Culliton

Cian Nugent She Brings Me Back To The Land Of The Living No Quarter

 The first album in seven years from singer songwriter and acclaimed guitarist Cian Nugent was born out of ill-fated circumstances. Moving back to his family home in Dublin to care for his mother, Kathy Nugent, who was rehabilitating from a stroke, Nugent’s latest album not only confronts the challenges presented to him but also allowed him the time out for personal reflection. The album’s title is derived from a phrase randomly repeated by Nugent’s mother while she recovered her speech during that period and the cover artwork was a canvas she painted while in hospital.

 Beauty is often born out of crisis and this eight-track album most certainly bears that out. Giving the listener a tour of where he was at that time brings about Nugent’s most unashamedly frank work to date.  Pass The Time Away and the closing track, How The Time Passes, with a combined length of over twelve and a half minutes, are wonderfully brooding. The former displays echoes of Nick Drake, giving the listener an inkling of what lay in the writer’s head at the time. The latter, an instrumental, is a six-string guitar-driven cosmic journey. However, the album’s tender heart lies in the gorgeous steel guitar drenched opener Empress and the equally melodic The Sound of Rain, which follows. Radically shifting style, High Up Airplane, chock-full of intricate guitar work, transports the listener on a nearly seven-minute jam-like astral trip. 

 A body of work that captures the mood of the writer and his personal journey at a particular time, it touches on the grinding reality of the unexpected and unknown. An open-ended collection of songs, often unalike but somehow managing to sit comfortably alongside each other, it’s not necessarily an album that hits home on the first spin. However, it is one that richly rewards and opens new doors on repeated visits. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Joost Dijkema After Thunder Sun  Twin Dimension

Probably best to know that this musician pronounces his name "Yowst Dykuh-ma." The Dutch language can certainly throw you a curve ball and it is best to get this name right in order to mention his talent to your musical friends. Believe me, you will want to spread the word.

With two previous albums to his name, Dijkema has delivered a superbly crafted third release and you know the old saying about lucky three… well, with a fair wind, this should be the one to reach a much wider audience. The fingerstyle guitar playing is quite brilliant across the ten tracks that are mainly instrumental, with only four songs containing lyrical content. The instrumentals are all played with such effortless ease that the temptation is to simply hit the repeat button when the album comes to an end – something that I am happy to admit to doing.

The artist was inspired by Leo Kottke and Michael Chapman in honing his musical prowess and there are many other artists that have shaped the beautiful acoustic sound along the path. I’m reminded of John Martyn at times, and elsewhere, Bert Jansch. Dijkema is a multi-instrumentalist and showcases his talents on lead vocals, guitars, banjo, pedal steel, drums, bass, percussion, and is joined on single tracks by vocalists Bram Menninga (Beautiful Ride) and Flora Karsemeijer (Buddy).

The joy of motion and an open road is highlighted on the song Beautiful Ride and the metaphor of driving your life like a beautiful car is well delivered. The guitar showcase Vic’s Raga is a real tour de force and a superbly crafted instrumental. The blues feel on Train Of Doomsday is also a stand-out track that highlights the dexterity of this musician on the fretboard. Shards Of Love is just as the title indicates, a cul-de-sac for relationships, where love is double parked.

The gentle playing on Anne’s Island is a counterpoint, with the reflective mood illustrated by some wonderful acoustic guitar playing. Similarly, the playing on Buddy is restrained and fluid, a tribute to a loyal dog who passed away, yet who still lives in the memory of the owner.  Final tracks Let It Rain (like it used to rain), and the Chap From Wrytree (written for Michael Chapman) are beautifully delivered instrumentals with lots of ‘wow’ moments in the playing. A very impressive album and one that will bring many moments of musical pleasure. Definitely a keeper.

Review by Paul McGee

Imelda Kehoe Leave Your Light On Self Release

Such a pleasure to be able to review this special album. Imelda Kehoe has released two previous records on her journey towards her musical awakening and identity. With this release, she has reached her destination. The sense of right place and right time, together with the magic of the moment have conspired to deliver a set of songs that enrich the listener and invite you into the world of this interesting singer songwriter.

The passage of time is viewed in these musings as something akin to a slow motion replay of many life memories and the freeze frames along the way are beautifully captured. Whether it’s that moment in a relationship where you feel true connection; that sense of when things are falling out of symmetry; the decision to blow up the past and press the reset button  -  it’s all captured in these mature reflections on life and everything after. There is sadness, hope and joy in the reflections, coupled with insightful memory and  wistful longing. There is questioning and wanting to know our place in all the vagaries of life. When will the curtain open and the true meaning of it all reveal itself?

Imelda displays a sense of timing and vocal phrasing that is quite superb, and her innate gift celebrates that road we all walk in the direction of our desires. There are many stand out moments on the album and Where To Now, the opening track questions the randomness of life and the things that fall outside of our control. The abiding feeling is one of having to carry on in memory of those who have gone before. It’s a deeply personal song that references the death of her father.

Ohio is a sensitive look at the futility of war and the bond that can form between two friends who experience the worst traits of humanity in trying to survive. The song was inspired by the wonderful writing of Sebastian Barry and his book, Days Without End.

Leave Your Light On is a tribute to Imelda’s brother, who died from melanoma during covid lockdown. The song reflects on memories shared and the heart-breaking lines ‘Leave your light on, then I will know if you are home; Leave your light on, then I don’t feel so quite alone,’ capture the loneliness of grief and the sense of loss.

House Of Flowers deals with the need to have a safe place to escape to. The fragility of life and the sense of wanting time to just slow down in order to catch our breath; ‘Take me to the House of Flowers, Maybe we could pass the hours, Maybe we run out of our dreams, Take me there, I need some healing, Take me there, I need that feeling.’

The song 404 is that moment when you realise that the thing you held precious is actually what is hurting you and causing you pain. The term 404 is an error message displayed by a browser indicating that an internet address cannot be found. Such a clever analogy to draw upon in the wages of love and loss.

In a previous life Imelda trained as a nurse and practiced in the north of England. Her experiences of the people she helped and those who left enduring impressions are captured in the song Invisible. It looks at the spirit displayed by those who are sick and the resilience that often is the very thing that keeps their quality of life intact.

Seventy Five Beats refers to the resting heart rate of a person that is considered normal, although some research has appeared that shows this could also have long-term health risks. The song references the fact that passing beyond is something that we all have to face eventually.

Final song, Send In the Angel, examines the conflicting urges within all of us, the drive to be something we are not and the hope that we develop into decent human beings with a generosity of spirit. The challenge is not to get lost in the search for ego driven satisfactions in life.

Piano is the instrument of choice for Imelda and she surrounds herself with some talented players to augment her musical vision. Michael Egan (guitar), Horacio Valdivieso (guitar), Peter Eades (keyboards), Yoed Nir (cello), among others, join together in the creation of the album and the overriding sense of reflection is captured so perfectly in the eight songs that exude a gentle knowing and acceptance.

This is contemporary folk music that brings a gentle calm and a rewarding listening experience. An early contender for Irish album of the year?  Never bet against a woman who is stepping into the full range of her power.

Review by Paul McGee

Hiss Golden Messenger A Loner Alive Heaven and Earth Magic

This live album is subtitled “Songs from the Western Part of the United States of America.” It was recorded at gigs in Mill Valley, Mariposa and Healdsburg in California and Tacoma, Walla Walla and Spokane in Washington State earlier this year. MC Taylor performs under the stage title of Hiss Golden Messenger and his creative output has been consistently strong since his debut album arrived in 2009. His output includes as many live albums as it does studio recordings and Taylor is often joined by Scott Hirsch, his long-time ally and multi-instrumentalist.

Whether performing as a solo artist or part of a musical collective, Taylor delivers his folk and country soul musings with great resonance, reflecting both his internal and external anxieties, fears, hopes and dreams for a better world than the reality of what he sees around him.

On this outing, Taylor plays in a solo capacity and the twenty one songs feature eight of his studio albums with four songs included from each of BAD DEBT(2010), LATENESS OF DANCERS (2014), and QUIETLY BLOWING IT (2021). Taylor keeps the in-song chat to a minimum preferring to let the stripped down, acoustic arrangements speak for themselves. His guitar technique is quietly hypnotic and the subtle chord progressions and rhythmic strumming lull the listener into a place of peaceful reverie. Admittedly the dynamic doesn’t change much across the songs and the downside of live recordings often point to the reality that being in the room was so much more immersive an experience than hearing the intimacy partially captured on any subsequent recorded output.

“ I’ve got that ‘acoustic guitar voice’ adrenalin pumping through my veins” comments Taylor as he begins the superb Heart Like A Levee. Taylor indeed wears his heart on his sleeve and although the songs can be open to personal interpretation, he delivers with a sense of tired acceptance while at the same time, remaining optimistic for a brighter tomorrow. Other songs Sanctuary and Lateness Of Dancers are complimented by Hardlytown and Highland Grace in their naked delivery and honest fragility. The inclusion of both Caledonia, My Love and Saturday’s Song is an inspired couplet and the closing Black Dog Wind (Rose Of Roses) is a song about leaving family ties behind and branching out on your own. An appropriate sentiment upon which to bring this solo concert to a conclusion..      

There is no real sense of the different venues used across the recordings and the set could just as easily have been delivered in a single location, such is the seamless quality and flow of the songs. If you are already an admirer of MC Taylor then this will confirm everything that you already hold as special. For those of you who come to his music for the first time, this is a fine introduction and something of a high water mark among the rest of his output.

Review by Paul McGee

Trapper Schoepp Siren Songs Self Release

This Minnesota born artist has a number of prior releases, including PRIMETIME ILLUSION(2016), an album that included a co-write with none other than Bob Dylan. The story goes that Schoepp came upon a lost song of Dylan’s titled On, Wisconsin that was never finished or released. Schoepp decided to add some additional words and melody.  It’s a similar story to that of the Old Crow Medicine Show who took an old Dylan chorus and wrote the verses to the song Wagon Wheel that turned it into such a big hit. Fortune favours the brave and Schoepp sent his song version to Dylan’s management and received positive feedback and an agreement to release the song.

This sixth solo release follows in the same confident mood with Schoepp including twelve new songs that inspire and leave their mark. Produced by John Jackson (The Jayhawks, Ray Davies) and Patrick Sansone (Wilco), the recording sessions happened at the Cash Cabin in Hendersonville, Tennessee where Schoepp and his collaborators recorded with borrowed instruments – ranging from Johnny Cash's 1930s Martin guitar and June Carter Cash’s Steinway piano. The studio band included Jon Radford (drums), John Jackson (mandolin, violin), Patrick Sansone (keyboards), Quinn Scharber (guitar), and Jim Hoke (tin whistle, accordion). Schoepp’s brother makes an appearance on bass, and this allows Trapper to join with Tanner for sibling harmonies.

Queen Of the Mist captures the mood of the album perfectly with the tale of  Annie Edson Taylor, an American schoolteacher who became the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel. There are songs that reference nature and imagery of rivers, storms, wind, sea, flatlands and the moon. The song In Returning tells the tale of a sailor who is comfortable with a life on the ocean wave, only to fear what awaits on his return to land. The lyrics include the siren songs of mermaids and an albatross guiding ship journeys, portents of doom to a mariner.

Both Secrets Of the Breeze and The Fool have traces of an Irish melody in the arrangements and both speak of different lives, the road not taken and the path you’re on. Silk and Satin is an interesting song about a drag queen on the local scene in Brooklyn and has gentle acoustic guitar and violin to spin out the tale of attraction. There are some nice mandolin and piano parts on Diocese, a song that sees a young girl moving out of her local community and heading for the bright lights of Boston.

Good Graces gives advice from bitter experience to not hold back on love and to just go for it. It is a very bright and catchy tune. Eliza contrasts with a bluesy arrangement including a nice organ solo and a song of warning that danger lurks ahead. The twelve songs play out over forty five minutes and there is plenty to enjoy among the different colours and shapes in the music.

Review by Paul McGee

Mike Tod Self-Titled Self Release

Based in Alberta, Canada, Mike Tod has a Masters in Ethnomusicology and has just released this debut album that takes a reverential look back at old-time music. Tod wants to honour the great traditions and the unknown artists of a time long gone and he certainly achieves his goal in breathing new life into traditional songs through a modern lens.

These ten songs are a mix of traditional tunes that Tod researched and recorded with new arrangements, and some covers of songs from artists as diverse as Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ola Belle Reid, Tim Spencer and the Romaniuk Family – a country music vocal and instrumental group from Edson, Alberta. Members Ed Romaniuk and his sisters Elsie and Ann were known for performing in the style of the Carter Family.

Tod co-produced the album with Pat Palardy at Public Lunch Studios in Calgary. The musicians who produced the subtly inventive music are Mike Tod (acoustic guitar, harmonium, vocals), Keith Rodger (bass), Nathan M Godfrey (resonator guitar, mandolin, banjo), Laura Reid (violin), Wayne Garrett (pedal steel), Jeremy Gignoux (violin, viola), Travis Miller (percussion), Melodie Ayoungman and Opal Ritzer on vocals.

Flowers Of Edinburgh has a very strong Irish melody as does Cold Frosty Morn, both instrumentals, and featuring some delightful ensemble playing. One can but imagine the history of immigrant music across all of these old-time tunes that developed as cities grew up with different ethnic groups interacting with new tunes. The stand out song is Little Wheel Spin and Spin (Buffy Sainte-Marie) and the sense of foreboding is palpable as the song builds. Wait For Me has a soft lilt, akin to an old lullaby, as two lovers declare their love for each other, and final song My Alberta Rose is a fitting tribute to the Romaniuk Family and their old-time harmonies and understated playing.

This is an excellent album and it will delight the music historians who like to study the original melodies and tunes upon which so much of today’s music is based. Admirers of Jake Xerxes Fussell, and his traditional folk and blues music of the south will also find much here to inspire. A very engaging album.

Review by Paul McGee

New Album Reviews

Rose City Band Garden Party Thrill Jockey

Singer songwriter and ace guitarist, Ripley Johnston, wears a number of different hats. A member of rock bands Wooden Shyips and Moon Duo, his solo project Rose City Band is a vehicle for Johnston to explore and create music in the style of the classic cosmic country rock that blossomed in the late 60s, prior to it being commercialised and cannibalised a few short years later. The Byrds, The Burrito Brothers and Grateful Dead influences are all over GARDEN PARTY, the fourth album released by Rose City Band.

Johnston recruited Barry Walker (pedal steel), Paul Hasenberg (keyboards), Dewey Mahood (bass) and Dustin Dybvig (drums) to record the eight tracks at Center for Sound, Light, and Color Therapy in Portland. ‘I was trying to capture that feeling when you take psychedelics and they just start coming on – objects start buzzing in the edges of your visions’ explains Johnston. That trippy sensibility certainly works throughout and no more so than on Porch Boogie with its gripping backbeat and slick guitar and piano breaks. Walker’s weeping pedal steel underscores a similar sonic terrain on the ghostly Saturday’s Gone and the funky Moonlight Highway tips its hat in the direction of Steve Hillage. Slow Burn interprets the signature sound that The Byrds might have followed after SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO, had Gram Parsons not jumped ship.  

As we anticipate the approach of warmer days, the unhurried, unrestrained and summery vibe of GARDEN PARTY is a welcome addition to the back catalogue of Rose City Band. Continuing on his mission as one of the premier architects of a timeless and vital sound, Johnston has come up trumps once more with this five-star record.

Review by Declan Culliton

One Night in Texas: The Next Waltz’s Tribute to the Red Headed Stranger The Next Waltz

Released one day before Willie Nelson’s ninetieth birthday, this tribute album was recorded by a host of household names with one common characteristic; careers hugely influenced by both the songs and fearlessness of the original and quintessential outlaw, Willie Nelson.

Nelson’s output in the 1970s was possibly the most inspirational for many aspiring artists and features prominently in the fourteen tracks on the album. The brainchild of the project was singer songwriter, producer, and the owner of The Next Waltz label, Bruce Robison. As a long time disciple of Nelson, Robison had little difficulty gathering together the more than willing artists that contributed to the recording at Nelson’s Luck Ranch in Spicewood, Texas.

With Robison allocated the duties of band leader, a large backing band of players was gathered with one pre-condition; they had to be familiar with all the selected songs, which wasn’t an issue as most of the musicians has been either listening to or playing all the songs for decades. The result is a party-like atmosphere and a delivery of some of Nelson’s best-known compositions, alongside a few covers that he put his stamp on. It’s a difficult task to identify the stand-out performances, as there’s merit in them all. However, the ongoing influence of Nelson on newer and emerging artists shines brightly on the opener by Vincent Neil Emerson, Bloody Mary Morning and Texas legend Robert Earl Keen’s version of Pick Up The Tempo is memorable. Margo Price, whose 2017 album, ALL AMERICAN MADE, featured a duet with Nelson, is in fine form on a funked-up Shotgun Willie and Sheryl Crowe’s jazzy and swinging Night Life works a treat. The album’s final inclusion is The Party’s Over by Phosphorescent (Matthew Huck), whose wonderful 2009 Nelson tribute album, FOR WILLIE, also closed with that song.

The recorded performances were followed by Nelson taking centre stage with his trusted guitar Trigger in hand and willingly closing the party.

The track listing is as follows:

Vincent Neil Emerson – Bloody Mary Morning; Margo Price – Shotgun Willie; Robert Earl Keen – Pick Up The Tempo; Shinyribs – I Gotta Get Drunk; Nathaniel Rateliff – Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain; Steve Earle – Pancho and Lefty; Emily Gimble – Down Yonder; Sheryl Crow – Nightlife; Bruce Robison – Last Thing I Needed First Thing In The Morning; Ray Wylie Hubbard – Whiskey River; Shinyribs  - My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys; Nathanial Rateliff – Crazy; Bruce Robison – How Will I Know I’m Falling In Love Again; Phosphorescent – The Party’s Over.

Review by Declan Culliton

Esther Rose Safe To Run New West

There is something comforting about Michigan-born Esther Rose’s music. It may be her somewhat whispered, almost childlike vocals, or her plainly spoken and to-the-point lyrics that draw you into her songs, but listening to her albums is like comfort food, highly soothing to the senses.

SAFE TO RUN is Rose’s fourth album and follows the release of HOW MANY TIMES back in 2021. Listening to both of these albums back-to-back reveals an artist that has grown vastly in confidence over those few short years. A songwriter of emotional depth, her core subject matter remains similar on both albums, but her latest offering finds her in an entirely more buoyant and assured mood. Both albums are also heavily influenced by Rose’s decade-plus years residing in New Orleans and the idiosyncratic musical styles of that city. As a result, SAFE TO RUN gifts the listener with an album that is far from strictly a country album and is more like a cosmic journey that also embraces elements of folk and indie pop.

As in her previous albums, much of the writing is self-directed. She could be sitting on a physiotherapist’s couch on certain tracks but elsewhere she also raises issues of sexism, climate change and her own nomadic travels. Whatever the genesis of the eleven tracks, it’s fair to say that there is not anything approaching a weak moment on the album. She is joined by a similarly free-spirit Alynda Segarra (Hurray For The Riff Raff) on the gorgeous title track. Other previous NOLA neighbours of Rose also contribute, including the band Silver Synthetic who feature on a number of the songs and Cameron Snyder of The Deslondes who also contributed. The production duties were handled by another close friend and regular collaborator, Ross Farbe.

Standout tracks are the gorgeous Insecure and the jangly power pop gem Levee Song. She puts closure to a bad relationship with Spider (‘Remember when you used to be mine and every day started with a fight. Scaring the neighbours, scream at the night’) and bookends the album with Arm’s Length, which points towards a new beginning.

Currently residing in Taos, New Mexico, Rose has hit the bullseye with SAFE TO RUN. An artist never afraid to lay bare her mental vulnerabilities, but also more than capable of injecting gentle humour into her writing, Rose may not yet have arrived at her final destination. Having said that, her latest album, both deeply melodic and assured, suggests an artist just about ready to fly high.

Review by Declan Culliton

Eilen Jewell Get Behind The Wheel Signature Sounds

With over a dozen acclaimed albums under her belt, Idaho-born Eilen Jewell’s latest album may well have been the most challenging group of songs she has written over her nearly two-decade career. With her income stream on hold during the pandemic and dealing with the breakup of her marriage to her husband, band manager and drummer, Jason Beek, she faced a worrying and uncertain future.  Rather than licking her wounds and writing a maudlin album reflecting her woes, Jewell has come out fighting and with a positive mindset. The sureness and optimism kick in on the booming opener Alive, and she gives the listener a tour of her journey from separation to revival on the ten tracks that follow.

Trademark distinct vocals, a tight rhythm section, and the exquisite guitar skills of Jerry Miller have been the foundation of Jewell’s impressive back catalogue and those factors are still to the fore on this recording. That rhythm section consisted of Jason Beek – who remains part of Jewell’s band – on drums and percussion, Steve Fulton on keys, Matt Murphy on upright bass and the aforementioned Jerry Miller on electric guitars. Adding to that talented crew was Fats Kaplin on pedal steel, and Will Kimbrough - who co-produced the album with Jewell - on guitars, percussion and keys.

Kaplin’s contributions are particularly noteworthy on the tracks Crooked River and Winnemucca. The former compliments the healing powers of the location which gave Jewell comfort during the solitude days of the pandemic and the latter, some three hundred miles south in the desert lands of Nevada, was a source of serenity and meditation for her. Departed family and friends are graciously remembered on You Were a Friend of Mine and the troubled times endured and overcome are acknowledged on the scintillating album closer, The Bitter End. Elsewhere the bluesy Outsiders stemmed from Jewell revisiting the movie The Outsiders, having been fascinated by its characters as a young child and the dark side of attraction and infatuation raises its head on Lethal Love. 

Few artists can blend country, blues, swing and rockabilly in a fashion that Jewell has perfected over her career. She more than achieves that with GET BEHIND THE WHEEL. Rather than being just another album under the ‘pandemic blues umbrella,’ the album is a personal and masterly coup and Jewell’s bravest effort to date.

Review by Declan Culliton

Ben Bostick The Rascal Is Back Simply Fantastic

From the opening title track onwards, this album will get your feet tapping, make you smile and perhaps tell you a few things about yourself that you recognise in Bostick’s characters. “How y’all, did you miss me?” are the opening words on this album before revealing that, yes, the rascal is back. After several albums that have been well received, he’s back with perhaps one that will please those who love their roots music full of twang and tongue-in-cheek writing. Bostick wrote all the songs featured and he produced and arranged the album in a studio in Atlanta, with some additional recording in Lilburn, both studios in his home state of Georgia. So this is exactly the music he wants to release right now. It is not going to go about changing the perceptions of this wide genre but rather is a prodigious listen with some memorable and melodically effective material that, while it has humour as a key ingredient, is neither novelty nor nonsense. 

There’s a plaintiveness to You Can Leave In The Morning, a plea for some time together but without being too pushy about it. Big Sister And Me has an almost 60s power-pop feel that works well. Big Train has a great deep set back vocal over a stop/start rhythm. Po No Mo has a walking bass line and twanging guitar that reasons that he doesn’t want a great deal but equally doesn’t want to be poor no more. I Don’t Care is a good for nothing’s no need to work raison d'être that would, with a few extras turns on the volume dial, make a something of a punk anthem. Strange Duck is an acceptance of being different with, naturally, a duck call featuring. 

Bostick worked with seven additional players on the album with the pedal steel, keyboards and guitar players all giving their best to enhance the songs over the rock solid rhythm section. With four previous full album releases on his side, Bostick has built a solid following that will doubtless be welcome to his existing fan base. This album is a perfect introduction to his music for those who want to check out some rewarding roots music, that highlights Bostick’s talent as writer, player, producer and his embodiment, musically, of a rascal with a heart. He also demonstrates a solid vocal style to match the material on offer.

The eleven songs on THE RASCAL IS BACK are going to make those in the know want to have him stay around and continue making his music for a while longer. Like many he continues to record and release his albums with the commitment of someone offering an antidote to difficult times, but in a way that is rewarding and worthwhile.

Review by Stephen Rapid

The Malpass Brothers Lonely Street Billy Jam

For a long time now there has been a general outcry among those who listen to (and review) hardcore country  and that is that the music has been taken over by industry demands for greater exposure, and therefore profit, at the expense of the traditional sounds and themes that were once inherent in the genre. However I always found reasons to feel that not all was lost - there have always been acts who adhered to the music’s roots in terms of attitude, performance and (often) in they way they dressed. Often a “country” act is heralded in a post as a country act and from first look and listen it is so obvious that that word has again been misused and misappropriated.

One act that has always been an oasis for the “three chords and the truth” is the Malpass Brothers, Chris and Taylor. They may not be that well know in wider circles, even in the roots community, but they are exactly what many would look for in a real country act. They have strong vocals and sibling harmonies and choose their material wisely, mixing co-written original songs as well as a perfect choice of lesser know covers by artists they admire. One such artist was Merle Haggard, who they toured with and recorded in his studio as well as covering his songs. There is more than a passing nod to Merle in some of the material here and on their previous four album releases. 

They come from Goldsboro, North Carolina, where they grew up nurtured by their Grandpa’s record collection. They are relatively young performers but steeped in the kind of music that I think they won’t be changing from any time soon. They also use humour in their stage show and have a good repartee with each other, showing no signs of the sometimes apparent sibling rivalry that brothers within the music industry are known to exhibit. There are hints of those exchanges in the album’s opening song, penned by Chris, Paying For The Dream.

This new album LONELY STREET was produced by Ben Isaacs and Doyle Lawson (the noted bluegrass stalwart who performs with his band Quicksilver). Isaacs also plays bass here (and is also a member of the bluegrass family band, The Isaacs). This might suggest that the album would be more inclined to head in that direction, as the brothers have also played bluegrass in the past themselves. In fact they performed at the Omagh Bluegrass Festival in Northern Ireland in both 2009 and 2011 (the first time as a duo and the second with a bassist and drummer).

This record, however, is as country as it comes. Alongside the brothers (vocals, guitars and mandolin) and Isaacs on bass, they are ably accompanied by Mike Johnson on steel guitar, Stu French on lead guitar, drummer Tony Creasman and Gordon Mote on piano. A pretty lean and mean(ingful) team. The Man I Aint (another Chris written track) tells of a man coming to terms with his demise thanks to a woman who can “freeze the the ground in mid July.” It kind of goes without saying that relationships are at the heart of the songs here. We Don’t, from the pen of Jeannie Seely, is an album highlight, a tale mired in the sadness of a couple facing divorce and the inclusion of Brennen Leigh makes it even more special. 

The next two songs, Love Is A Lonely Street and We Can’t Still Be Friends, further explore the emotions of pain and lost passion.The former is fairly self evident from its title, while the latter written by Chris Malpass, Shawn Camp and Taylor Dunn (as are two other tracks) reasons that friendship is unlikely to be an option after a parting of the ways. It would please any fan of Merle’s and the lead vocals are a delight. Out Of Sight And Out Of Mind finds the two brothers singing together in perfect harmony, in more than one sense. It may seem on the surface that an album full of break-up and heartache might be too much, but that is not the case for anyone who loves what is the staple of real country, the sad songs are a central crux of this musical form. Merle Haggard and Ronnie Reno wrote Love Slips Away and it’s performed with reverence while being as much theirs as it might be considered his. That’ll Be The Day is a great song too, one of those about never getting over someone so special in your life. By way of contrast Sleep When The Party’s Over is all about having a good time and hoping it won’t end.

Two songs that may underscore some of the country music critics’ appraisal of the sentimentality involved might find that both Daddy Don’t Cry and Road Of Memories do just that. But for many others, the sincerity of the material delivered with understated passion will be memorable moments here. The former,  written by Mac Davis and recorded by Elvis Presley, takes the joint perspective of a child and a father dealing with the loss of a mother. The latter, the final track of the album, is a co-write by Chris Malpass which recalls the influence that his family including his Grandpa, parents and his uncle had and how those memories remain as a potent force.

This release immediately finds itself placed among contenders for the album of the year and as fine an example of what county music should be and should remain. While others in this category have added something new that is explorative to the form, while still being undeniably country, Chris and Taylor Malpass’ music is both timely and timeless.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Apple and Setser Self-Titled  Bell Buckle

The decision taken by Brad Apple and Pam Sester to join their talents and create this debut album is an inspired one. Their combined musical expertise is very impressive and both artists blend perfectly together to make music that is both memorable and packed with personality. The ten songs are firmly rooted in the best traditional music experience and the delivery is quite addictive. The opener Hand Me Down My Walking Cane is a traditional song, given a fresh arrangement by Apple and the bluegrass playing is a real joy from the ensemble of musicians that includes Tim Crouch, David Johnson, and both Apple and Setser.

Grandma Danced With the Arkansas Traveller is a standout with the hint of a traditional Irish air woven into the song arrangement, capturing the innocence of time past and the love of simple pleasures. Apple also provided arrangements to a number of other traditional songs, featuring Rake and the Rambling Blade, When You and I Were Young, Maggie (beautiful instrumental version) and a fine collaboration with Setser on the superb When the Wagon Was New.

Two other songs written by Setser more than find their place with Too Far Gone and Hayes’ Hoedown setting the performance standards even higher. Piano from Danny Crawford on the former is perfectly judged along with the mandolin of Sam Cobb, and the latter is a rollicking instrumental that celebrates just being alive – rousing acoustic guitars, fiddles, banjo and dulcimer adding to the fun.

The Paul Anka song, It Doesn’t Matter Anymore is given a great reworking in a traditional country style with Setser shining on lead vocal. I’ll Love Nobody But You is a cover of the Jim and Jesse McReynolds song  and another example of the wickedly good bluegrass chops that these musicians possess. Apple produced the album and plays guitars, mandolin and bass in addition to lead and harmony vocals. Setser plays dulcimer and provides lead and harmony vocals, with Tim Crouch (guitar, fiddle, banjo, bowed bass, djembe) and David Johnson (fiddles, viola, clawhammer banjo, dobro, acoustic guitar) providing stellar musicianship throughout.

This is a fine example of all that is best in country music these days and I highly recommend that you add this album to your collection. You will not be disappointed.

Review by Paul McGee

Taj Mahal  Savoy Stony Plain

The term ‘living legend’ is one that gets used too loosely these days and often the subject of the hype is not worthy of all the media fuss that is made. A false praise that rings hollow.

In the case of Taj Mahal the term does not get used enough in my view. An artist that has defied narrow categorisation all his career, Taj Mahal has always been genre fluid and open to taking chances in expanding his musical palette. Since his seminal debut album in 1967, Taj Mahal has been prolific in his search for the next project, the next opportunity to explore another new direction and to collaborate with some of the finest artists in the music industry. His discography runs to some thirty studio albums, with as many live and compilation recordings to match.

Growing up in Harlem and influenced at an early age by his musician parents tastes in jazz, gospel, Caribbean and African roots, swing and bebop; also led Taj Mahal to absorb the roots of R&B and early country blues. His music has always incorporated these and many other styles, including elements of reggae, calypso, zydeco, and gospel music. From his early collaborations with Ry Cooder as part of the Rising Sons group that mixed blues and folk influences, to his recording with Toumani Diabaté, the Malian kora player, and onward to the more recent project with Ry Cooder, Get On Board (2022), Taj Mahal has always pushed the boundaries and refused to be pigeonholed.

This latest offering is the perfect case in point with a sentimental look back to his roots and the wonderful music of his parents era. They actually met in the famous Savoy ballroom in Harlem and the fourteen tracks included here are all treated with tender loving care in their recording and delivery. Co-produced by long-time friend and associate John Simon (The Band, Leonard Cohen, Janis Joplin), the big band sound is a delight and the playing is of the highest quality. These standards include tunes from Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Louis Jordan and George Gershwin among others. The instantly recognisable vocal of Taj Mahal lends complete authenticity to the tunes and his occasional scat vocals are very impressively delivered also. Among the favourites here are versions of Sweet Georgia Brown, Baby, It’s Cold Outside (with Maria Muldaur), Do Notin’ Till You Hear From Me, Stompin’ At the Savoy and Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby.

As a strident proponent of American roots origins there could be no better tribute than to look at the era that spawned so much new music after the war years and the development of RnB, rockabilly, western swing and country genres. 

Having played with many top line artists and bands over his career, including the Rolling Stones and Van Morrison, the reputation of Taj Mahal has continued to grow and he has been honoured with three Grammys and the Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement award. This new album is a real treat and packed with great moments that highlight the talents of the great man. Put some Taj Mahal into your life.

Niall Summerton  What Am I Made Of?  Tiny Library

This debut album from English artist Niall Summerton is a gentle affair and a dreamy stroll down some backroads of his creative muse. The ten songs hardly break sweat as they unfurl and the ethereal sway of synths and understated guitar take hold in their delivery. The entire album has the feel of a less-is-more approach to the recording process and Summerton used a number of his musical friends from the Yorkshire area to play on the tracks. There are contributions from Jacob Andrews (guitar), Tom Kettleton (sax), and various synth sounds provided by Joel Johnston, Megan Lama and Jacob Cracknell.

There are songs of introspection and self-reflection. They hint at lost relationships and feeling of isolation.  The lyrics are somewhat cryptic in places and reference dogs, riding bikes, dusty places, and slowing life down. The song Playing Dumbcontains the lines ‘All the cruel words that I said, that I play back in my head, They linger in the air, Nothing real is ever fair.’

Other song titles such as When You’re Not There, Wish You Could Speak, Human Dying and Need You point to personal relationships woven into the fabric of these vignettes and the atmospheric feel of the production by multi-instrumentalist Summerton has an easy-going style that is both heartfelt and quietly plaintive. Handle with care and file under pastoral folk.

Review by Paul McGee

Rose City Band, Esther Rose, Eilen Jewell, Ben Bostick, The Malpass Brothers, Apple & Setser, Taj Mahal, and Niall Summerton.

New Album Reviews

Jaelee Roberts Something You Didn’t Count On Mountain Home

Just because your father is a member of The Grascals (Danny Roberts) and your mother is a bass player and a bluegrass booking agent (The Andrea Roberts Agency) doesn’t necessarily imply that you have any musical talent. However, the release of this most impressive debut album, from a young woman barely out of her teens, hints that perhaps all those days backstage at The Grand Ole Opry weren’t wasted on the young Jaelee. Of course, she had the benefit of fiddle lessons at four years old, followed by piano, mandolin and guitar, and she willingly embraced all musical opportunities from the start. She also shows that she is developing as a songwriter, with four of the twelve songs here being written or co-written by her. However, outstanding above all of these attributes is Jaelee Roberts’ simply stunning voice.

The title and opening track is a barnstorming kickstart and also introduces her hot band of bluegrass players: Kristin Scott Benson on banjo (The Grascals), Alan Bibey on mandolin (Grasstowne), Jimmy Mattingly on fiddle (Dolly Parton, Reba McIntyre) and Tony Wray on guitar (Dan Tyminski). It’s all consummately produced by Tim Surrett, who also contributes the tasty dobro and bass. Roberts can slow it down on heartbreak songs like Think Again or the moving gospel song I Owe Him Everything. She’s equally at home burning it up on Sad Songs or on Molly Tuttle’s You Can’t Stop Me From Staying. There’s a gorgeous cover of Stevie Nicks’ classic Landslide, where she’s joined by the unmistakeable vocals of Vince Gill, and she calls in Amanda & Kenny Smith for harmony vocals on her cover of Gram Parsons’ Luxury Liner, among other tracks.

Also a member of roots/bluegrass supergroup, Sister Sadie, and studying songwriting at university, this young woman is one to watch. Already with one foot in traditional country and the other in bluegrass, I won’t be surprised if she becomes the ‘Dolly Parton’ of this generation.

Review by Eilís Boland

Shawn Williams Sulking In Love Self Release

 New Orleans singer songwriter Shawn Williams’ 2022 album, WALLOWIN’ IN THE NIGHT, was a ‘no holds barred’ affair of heartbreak, hangovers and hardship. Describing her music as alt-country rockabilly, Williams’ emotional outbursts on that album marked her out as a songwriter cut from the same cloth as her namesakes Lucinda Williams and Hank Williams Jr. If that fine suite of songs was an attempt to finally exorcise vexations and bury some past failed relationships, it may not have entirely succeeded as Williams is still spitting fire on her latest record, SULKING IN LOVE.

She gets down to business from the onset with the opener I Need More (‘let me tell you what’s been on my mind... ‘cos I need more trust than I’ve been giving’) and closes the album on a less than upbeat note with the confessional and mournful mid-tempo ballad, Lonesome Blues. In between these two tracks, her collected stories are rich in detail and content. The wonderfully brooding Call Me Up aims its trigger in the direction of a past suitor and Where I Stand is cut from the same cloth, following a matching ‘busted heart’ thread. If the rawness and the emotions vented in those previously mentioned songs indicate the approach of a breaking point, the album’s standout track, Givin’ Up, goes a step further, approaching the verge of physical collapse. It’s both brutal and brilliant and wouldn’t have been out of place on Lucinda Williams’ self-titled album or Marianne Faithfull’s masterpiece BROKEN ENGLISH. Society (‘I sure as hell can’t afford to leave and my family’s family’s family fill these cemeteries’) finds Williams venting her anger against the gentrification of her home town, New Orleans.

Williams hired a talented bunch of players to replicate the organic sound that worked so well on WALLOWIN’ IN THE NIGHT. Joining her in the studio were Michael Chaves (Leonard Cohen, Marianne Faithfull) on guitar, keys, strings, harmonica and tambourine, Daryl Johnson (Emmylou Harris, Neville Brothers) on bass, harmonies, and percussion, and Omari Neville (Omari Neville & The Fuel) on drums and percussion. Grammy Award winner Mark Howard (Bob Dylan, REM, Lucinda Williams) supervised, produced, and mixed the tracks and captures the dominant mood of the songs perfectly.

An album that travels from the composed to the frenetic, SULKING IN LOVE continues where the writer’s last album left off, with William’s trademark unflinching lyrics and raw vocals offering a gateway to the darkness lurking underneath personal distress. It’s also one for the slow burner so don’t expect to connect on the first play, it does take time to absorb. However, time invested offers rich rewards on each subsequent visit, from an artist never afraid to challenge the tried and trusted. 

Review by Declan Culliton

Diana Jones Better Times Will Come - Reimagined & Remastered Proper

It’s hard to believe that fifteen years have passed since the release of Diana Jones’ celebrated album BETTER TIMES WILL COME. It’s also poignant that the optimism and hopefulness expressed in the album’s title have not yet come to fruition and that many of the sentiments addressed on the album remain fractured.

Revisiting the entire recordings for the original album with studio engineer Steve Addabbo (Bob Dylan, Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega), was both an uplifting and emotional experience for Jones. She admits that tears were shed while revisiting the recordings of the title track and hearing the late Nanci Griffith’s vocals once more. The new version of that song that opens the album includes an additional chorus with Griffith’s harmony vocals. The album’s sequencing was also altered. The anti-gun and domestic abuse song, If I Had a Gun, appropriately follows that opening track with its clear and simple message - no guns and no one gets shot. An additional song, Call Me Daddy, which also addresses domestic violence but didn’t make the original cut, is included.

The love letter penned by the miner trapped underground on Henry Russell’s Last Words and the meeting of two people eventually finding love on Cracked and Broken sound as vital and timeless today as they did fifteen years ago. Soldier Girl tells of a woman heading off to war by way of a necessary career choice and the autobiographical in part, All God’s Children (‘I search for faces that look like my own’), considers the plight faced by the orphaned child. As was the case on the original album, the album closes with The Day I Die.

Diana Jones’ writings have consistently focused on dark and harrowing topics, a celebration of the classic folk ballads so close to her heart. With her delightful vocal purr and joined by musicians whose playing is suitably understated and more than complements those vocals, BETTER TIMES WILL COME established itself as one of the quintessential Americana recordings of its time. This remastered edition and its thought-provoking and powerfully emotive songs, fifteen years after its initial emergence, remain a joy to behold.

Review by Declan Culliton

Casey Prestwood Where I’m Going Is Where I’ve Always Been Self Release

There can be little doubt that Casey Prestwood has always been a believer in the righteous ways of traditional country music, something that is exemplified in his music, his mode of dress and his long-standing honky-tonk attitude. He also uses his deep knowledge of the history of the music to create original material that would fit as much back then as it does in today’s climate, though not perhaps in the way that many have come to regard as country music, based on current commercial dictats that seek to move the music so far from its roots that the title is virtually meaningless. Things might be about to change, to some small degree perhaps, with some of the more true to genre artists making breakthroughs in the mainstream.

I don’t feel, though, that Prestwood is focused on that particular goal with his music. Rather the Denver, Colorado based performer is more concerned with getting his music right and true to his personal vision. Neither is he prolific in the release of his albums. His last outing, BORN TOO LATE, came out in 2016 (it is available with some other releases on his website).  However, the wait for this latest collection of songs has been worth it.

He recorded the album with a like-minded and thoroughly respected producer in Justin Trevino. They recorded in Trevino’s studio in Brady, Texas. He was joined, as he has been over several previous recordings, by his Burning Angels rhythm section of Kevin Finn (drums) and Jeff Martin (bass) and new member David Knodle played electric guitar. Add to that Hank Singer on fiddle, Floyd Domino on piano and Tyler Hall on steel guitar. The backing singers are notable too, with Sierra Ferrell and Amber Digby adding their vocals to balance Prestwood’s ever assured and nuanced lead vocals. The sessions were recorded largely live, which gave an added presence to the overall country shuffle sound that is apparent in the self-written tracks.

As is perhaps natural, the songs touch on the perennial themes that were the staple of country music over the last few years. Paralyzed Heart is the opening song and is a nod to the Bakersfield inspired sound that has a fondness for the truck drivin’ stories of Red Simpson among others. Crossed Signals is a song about the importance of getting to the point in a relationship. It heralds in the classic shuffle sound with fiddle and steel well to the fore. Out Of Place (a co-write with Josh Berwanger), that has the darker side of drug use at its centre, features Sierra Ferrell in a mash up that Prestwood describes as “the Gatlin Brothers meets T Rex!”

There are two songs that directly touch on that other seminal theme of drink in Wine Drunk wherein that state of inebriation is a place he wants to take his girl. Day Drinking, on the other hand, recognises that as the years pass it’s not often possible to carry on as it was easy to do in the past. 

Cheating, as you might expect, has its place here too - and from both sides of the fence. In Slipping Away he is the one facing up to the pain of the realisation that he is no longer wanted, while  the song Crazy Girls addresses the running around he did in his younger days, especially in relation to touring and playing. Maybe I’ll Be Happy describes a petulant mood that finds him heading to the place where he thought he would be happy, following a fight with a girlfriend. That mood is again addressed in Leave Me Alone, the detail tells it all. 

The overall perception though is of an excellent album that captures the well intentioned balance between artist, players, producer and material, that makes it one that it is easy to love on those different levels. A work of heart. 

Review by Stephen Rapid

White Rose Motor Oil The Gift Of Poison Self Release

A husband and wife duo of Eryn DeSomer on vocals, guitar, keyboards and percussion and Keith Hoerig DeSomer on drums, bass and handclaps. So by the very fact of that particular line-up, they will doubtless draw parallels with any similar duo but especially, perhaps, The White Stripes playing a Dolly Parton song. They have been compare with the Jack White produced Loretta Lynn album Van Lear Rose, as well as to Neko Case’s more country-styled output. Pop-country is a term that has been used about them too but that has connotations of something far less palatable. They are closer to the best of power-pop in terms of energy and enjoyment and their country veers towards the traditional, rather than the more recent mainstream pap. That, at least, will give those unacquainted with their output some Idea of what to expect.

They put out a series of EPs back in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022 respectively. YOU CAN”T KILL GHOSTS, their debut album of original material, came out in 2021 and was preceded by an album of cover versions. They have obviously gained a lot of studio experience from those recordings to get them to the place for this album.

This twelve track release is good fun and the sound, produced by Brian Hunter who worked with them on previous recordings and who also recorded, mixed and mastered it, is vibrant and accessible and on the rock side of rootsy. They hail from Denver, Colorado, a city that has thrown up some interesting outfits in recent times like Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, Casey James Prestwood and The Burning Angels through to The Cowboy Dave Band (to name but three).

The songs deal with the trials and tribulations of love, with titles such as Just Your Type, Meet Me At The Bottom, Trouble Or Nothing, Only In Dreams and Ain’t No Saint giving hints of that state of mind and mood. Most of the songs are uptempo and upbeat despite the sometimes alternative nature of the lyrical content and story songs. The single outside track here is a version of Carlene Carter’s Every Little Thing that reminds one of a great song, artist and a reference point in time that is as valid in this version as the original was in its time.

One things that is apparent is that this couple, on record at least, don’t need anyone else to keep you listening. Eryn has a powerful, confident and versatile voice that can handle all the songs with equal ability, whilst musically they offer a similar credence and credibility. 

This gift is one that, so far, sounds like it will keep on giving and that White City Motor Oil lubricates many parts of the country rock motor, something that keeps us in tune and our motors running.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Pete Berwick The Damage Is Done Shotgun

Described as a cowpunk pioneer, Berwick this time sounds a lot less of the former and more firmly rooted in the latter demographic. This is the seventh release from Berwick and continues his hard rockin’ trajectory which began with his initial cowpunk outfit, Peter Berwick & Interstate. This album has been produced by Charlie Bonnet III, who has also furnished the buzzsaw guitars to Berwick’s often angry songs and delivery. The studio team is rounded out by engineer/ mixer Dave Summer’s worthy contributions on bass, drums, keyboards and additional guitar. Ashley Argo provides some backing vocals, joining the male trio to provide some additional vocal presence.

There is hardly a let up in pace and intensity from the open trio of hi-energy tracks that would likely please any Social Distortion fan or, for that matter, fans of power-pop fuelled punk in general. Time Clock On The Wall takes a step back with a slower paced guitar-led ballad. In an equally balanced step back from the raging fire is Ghost Tears, with some melodic atmospheric harmonies behind Berwick’s straining vocal that hints of the 60’s and the Ramones’ Spector recordings. Don’t Know How is another tale of hard times delivered, as the song’s message befits, at a less hectic pace and again is used to offset the full tilt punk boogie of the other songs, such as the beat-up hard edged beat for the remaining songs, one of which You’ll Get Used To It takes you back to the genesis of UK punk in London in ’77. The mid-paced Haunted Heart was written by Bonnet, the only song not penned by Berwick himself.

Berwick has thus far released some nine previous albums and anyone acquainted with his releases will know what to expect from this seasoned performer. It seems after such a long engagement with his music that this album has not seen him mellow though he has, on occasion, moderated his music to explore some other possibilities. Here he is back to demonstrating why the “cowpunk” connection was made in the first place, even though there is less obvious twang in evidence.

Berwick is also a working character actor with a lot of experience, who currently features in a new film One Night On Dover Street. His biography notes he has been a stand-up comedian, a theatre actor and an author, as well as playing both Elvis and Johnny Cash  He has also had his music included in a variety of movies over a number of years. One song taken from the album of the same name is Ain’t No Train Out Of Nashville that featured in the film about aspiring Nashville songwriters entitled A Thing Called Love. But it is his solo work his has forged his roots rock path, that sits alongside his musical journey since he began performing in the late 70s.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Cinder Well Cadence Free Dirt

Amelia Baker is one of the brightest talents to emerge on the music scene in recent years. Her debut album arrived back in 2015 and she has been slowly building a career that has seen separate album releases in 2018 and 2020, with a few singles and a live recording included along the journey.

Her vocal is very hypnotic and captures the listener with its intimacy and purity in the delivery. These are songs of meditative space and timeless quality. There is a deep resonance in the melodies and the song arrangements that lingers and demands attention. The music is deeply rooted in the feel of the process and the musicians are very intuitive in their interplay. Baker called upon the talents of Philip Rogers (drums), Neal Heppleston (bass), Jake Falby (violin), and Cormac MacDiarmada (strings) during the recording.

Having lived in Ireland for a number of years, Baker decided to return to her original home in Los Angeles and to touch base with her past. The album reflects the distance between these two parts of her experience, the time spent of different coasts, both very beautiful and both very different. The song Returning seems to capture this dichotomy with the refrain ‘The returning takes its own time’ hinting at the perspective needed to reconcile the two different worlds.

The title track is one that drips with atmosphere and reflects upon the rising and falling of life’s experiences; the vocal mirroring this sense of movement and passion. The sombre violin tone sets the atmosphere and the understated playing supports the song at every new inflection. The project was recorded at Hen House Studios near Venice beach but there is no sense of sunny days or long beach walks in the reflective and intimate sounds of songs like Well On Fire and Crow. The undulating waves perhaps played a part as Baker took in the beach vistas and superimposed them upon the rugged seas of the west of Ireland. Darkness and light, pleasure and pain, introspection and remembering to caution restraint.

Gone the Holding reflects upon the path that Baker has taken with images that reference birds, ports, the sea and time running out. Her experience of Covid isolation cannot have been easy for a writer who requires stimulation to feed her creative muse. A Scorched Lament is a slow melody with the imagery of a blackbird carrying messages of inner thoughts to places unknown. Final song I Will Close In the Moonlight has a certain calm that channels a delivery that is very reminiscent of Natalie Marchant in its lament to passing ships in the night, people who touch our lives, and then move on. Compelling and swathed in sounds to both heal and renew. A superb album in every way.

Review by Paul McGee

Hillsborough Comin’ back For You Heartsville

This band is based in the Queensland area of Australia and comprises the twin talents of Phil Usher and Beata Maglai, with Robbie Zawada on double bass, and Jonathan Pickvance on drums.

Opening track Trouble Finds Its Way is a perfect start to these songs about pleasure and pain. ‘There’s a price to walk away, But it’s death to try and stay, Walk the path with heavy boots, When trouble finds its way to you.’ In a similar vein Magnetic Lives and Exit Wounds circle the same territory of lost relationships and wanting to move on from a bad situation.

When Nobody Knows Your Name speaks of a life spent in isolation and the urge to be independent ‘When no one knows your name, You can lay your own track, It’s a two-headed coin, When you break from the pack.’ Maybe it’s just following a dream or maybe it’s a case of just lying to yourself? Other songs like Stitches and Comin’ Back To You tell about the other side of relationships and the feeling of being together with your love on the same path.

The country noir sound of Port Jackson Blues is typical of the great rhythm that runs through these song arrangements with the pulse of the backbeat and the distant howl of guitars laying down a sense of foreboding. Equally the insistent guitar groove on Laughing Clown is deeply infectious and the lines ‘No matter how you spell it honey, I’m just a wandering soul, You better save up all that money, My feet are made from gold.’ Another song that speaks of getting away and starting over is Far Away From Here and the urge to escape childhood constraints is strong ‘When you’ve only seen the night, You can’t recognise the light, The charred remains of your former life, Forge a prison for your mind.’ The slow strum of guitars, impassioned vocals and harmonica all add to the dynamic. The final song Queenie is an ode to a lost friend and the hope that they can meet again further down the dusty trails of time. ‘This is how it ends, Speeches given by old friends, The volumes left unsaid, And hope that we will meet again.’ A nicely framed sentiment and a tribute to the past.

This is outlaw country with a ragged sense of time and place despite the miles that separate Texas from Queensland. It has a swagger and a real taste of gritty maturity that is endearing.

Review by Paul McGee

Drew Young Bourbon and Bad Decisions Self Release

This album came with little information but on searching further it transpires that the release date was June 2022 and the fourteen songs were a “collection of previously releases singles, remastered singles, live versions and never before released singles.”

My copy of the album has only twelve tracks included but that doesn’t take away from the enjoyment factor. The arrangements and melodies are very bright and clean in the overall production and mastering. These are songs of loss and longing. The lessons learned are hard fought and the insights gained are worth the pain in the end.

Young sounds like Gorden Lightfoot across a number of these tracks with a resonance in his voice that is both deep and resonant. The title track references the road taken by Young in getting sober and joining the ranks of the ‘Friends of Bill.’   The nice groove and rhythm is similar to other tracks like You’re Just Too Good To Let Go, Falling Down and It’ll Be Soon. Another song The Geogia Line is similar in tempo to a Richard Marx hit, Hazard, from some years ago.

Stuck On Believing and A Couple Of Rounds Before I Go are two highlights with some sweet guitar and keyboard sounds filling the arrangements and excellent background vocals from an uncredited female voice that is impressive and succeeds in lifting the songs to a sweeter spot. This release will give you a strong impression of a consistent and strong song-writing quality and an urge to check our more of this artist’s back catalogue.

Review by Paul McGee

Jaelee Roberts Music, Shawn Williams Music, Diana Jones - Singer/Songwriter, Casey Prestwood, White Rose Motor Oil, Pete Berwick, Cinder Well, Hillsborough - Music, and The Drew Young Band.

New Album Reviews

Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection 2 Full Time Hobby

Playing pedal steel in Caitlin Rose’s band when she toured Europe, Spencer Cullum was encouraged by Rose and her guitarist, Jeremy Fetzer, to relocate to Nashville where the burgeoning Americana scene had the potential of offering the young East Londoner considerably more work opportunities than in his hometown. Cullum soon found himself very much part of the bohemian musical community in East Nashville and his avant-garde style of playing led to the formation, with Fetzer, of the instrumental band Steelism. Twelve years later, while Steelism still exists, Cullum’s impressive workload includes playing three-week residencies in Las Vegas as Miranda Lambert’s pedal steel player and numerous calls to the studio to work with a variety of artists and bands including Lambchop, Angel Olsen and Deertick.

A lover of various genres but with a particular fondness for the UK Canterbury sound and the classic British folk music of the late 60s and early 70s, Cullum discovered that his close friends and peers in Nashville- Erin Rae, Caitlin Rose, Sean Thomson and Andrew Combs - were also fans. (Cullum told us in a recent interview that when he first heard Erin Rae sing at The Fond Object, he was instantly reminded of Sandy Denny). What initially kicked off as loose evening jam sessions with friends eventually morphed into the recording of Cullum’s debut solo album COIN COLLECTION in 2021.

That album’s successor loosely treads a similar musical path with smatterings of krautrock and jazz alongside some classic Brit-folk. The track Betwixt and Between is a case in point and one that had me hitting the repeat button a number of times. Its origins stemmed from a fun Halloween night where Cullum and his associates covered the soundtrack of the 1973 British horror film The Wicker Man, which encouraged him to write and record a traditional folk song along similar lines. It’s a thing of beauty, with Cullum and Erin Rae’s vocals married to perfection. Cold Damp Valley, a co-write with Sean Thompson, affectionately recalls a few damp days the pair spent in a little village in West Yorkshire.  More experimental are the tracks Kingdom Weather and the opener What a Waste Of an Echo. The former includes chorus vocals, recorded remotely, by Japanese singer songwriter Yuma Abe, the latter features harmony vocals by Dana Gavanski alongside Cullum’s spoken delivery. The Three Magnets, running over the six-minute mark, is a racy krautrock instrumental featuring guitar and synths by ambient and spiritual jazz experimentalist, Rich Ruth.  Also included are the gentle folk ballad Green Trees and the dreamily psychedelic Out Of Focus.

While the album seldom strays too far from the genre-hopping delights of its predecessor, it does suggest an artist with multiple tricks up his sleeve and one growing in confidence both as a songwriter and a collaborator. If, like this writer, you’re a fan of the work of the delightfully eccentric Robert Wyatt, this record will be right up your street.

Review by Declan Culliton 

Carter Sampson Gold Horton

The latest album from Carter Sampson, the artist affectionately known as The Queen of Oklahoma, finds her sharing the production duties with multi-instrumentalist Kyle Reid, who played pedal steel on Sampson’s 2018 album LUCKY. That collaboration led to Reid touring with Sampson and Jason Scott as a three-piece in support of her last studio album, TRIO, from 2019.

Given that association, it’s little surprise that Sampson’s latest recording GOLD, from the intro on the opener and title track, is pedal steel - laden, and all the better for that. A writer who gives the impression of one who has lived through every lyric she writes; Sampson is particularly contemplative and plain-spoken on this ten-track collection.

Unlike her previous full-length albums, where she invited guest musicians and friends to contribute, the only players to feature on this occasion, other than Reid and herself, are Johnny Carlton, who plays upright bass on a couple of tracks, and Lane Hawkins, whose fiddle playing features on one track. This scenario was forced rather than intended, due to the majority of the tracks being recorded during lockdown. To observe social distancing, Reid ran cables from his house to a makeshift backyard studio where Sampson was set up, a somewhat unorthodox manner of recording. The process was completed by the addition of some innovative overdubs by Reid. Given the improvisation, the end product works remarkably well and gives the sense of a live recording with Sampson’s vocals particularly in fine fettle.

That previously noted opening track is a defiant thumbs up in the direction of her mom (‘Momma don’t you worry about me, I’ll be fine..cause you made me out of gold’). Exploring a wide range of issues alongside her personal plights, she digs deep into her western vibe on the swinging Yippy Yi Yo (‘it’s hard being a woman today’). She recalls the drought-stricken terror of the 1930s Dust Bowl in Oklahoma on Black Blizzard and brazenly declares the acceptance of her career vocation on Can’t Stop Me Now. The album closes on a hopeful and reassuring note with the acoustic There’s Always Next Year.

For sheer charm and listening pleasure, look no further than GOLD. Beauty is often born out of chaos and tribulation; this collection of tales is a case in point. A dynamic storyteller, by recognising past challenges, exorcising them, and moving on, Sampson has struck gold and created another superlative album equal to anything in her impressive back catalogue.

Review by Declan Culliton

Robbie Fulks Bluegrass Vacation Compass

Over a three-decade career, fifteen solo albums and two Grammy nominations, Robbie Fulks has crisscrossed seamlessly between traditional country, alt-country, folk and singer songwriter genres. The common denominator in all his musical excursions has been the quality of the end product. Raised in North Carolina and surrounded by a musical family - Fulks’ mother played autoharp, his father was a proficient guitarist and two of his aunts played banjo and violin respectively - Fulks owned his first banjo aged six and was also an accomplished guitar player by the age of ten.  Prior to launching his solo career, he was also a player in Greg Cahill’s bluegrass band, Special Consensus. Given that history, it’s hardly a surprise that Fulks has finally recorded a full-blown bluegrass album, BLUEGRASS VACATION.

A regular collaborator himself, it’s fitting that Fulks was joined in the studio by bluegrass royalty in Sam Bush, Sierra Hull, Ronnie McCoury, Tim O’Brien, Alison Brown, John Cowan, Brennen Leigh and Jerry Douglas.

Fulks previously wrote satirically and with ‘flowery’ language about his less than favourable association with Music City with Fuck This Town on his 1997 album SOUTH MOUTH. I had the pleasure of witnessing him performing that song at American Legion Post 82 in Nashville a few years back. The reaction was divided between abject disgust amongst the more mature regulars at the venue and hilarity from the younger and hipper attendees. Like a sore not yet fully healed, Fulks revisits that jarred relationship with Nashville Blues (‘I’ve got the blues, those Nashville blues, ain’t got no hair, ain’t got no shoes’). The equally impressive Molly and The Old Man is an endorsement of the potency and restorative qualities of old-time music as it passes through the generations. It features a gorgeous vocal contribution from Brennen Leigh and fine banjo playing from Alison Brown. The album is not strictly bluegrass throughout, Fulks strays into country folk with memories of parent-directed rebellion while moving through adolescence into manhood on Angels Carry Me, and the gentle ballad Mommas Eyes visits the hurt and grief of losing a loved one. He hasn’t abandoned his sardonic writing style either - no surprise there - and he kicks off the album with a tongue-in-cheek rouser, One Glass of Whiskey (‘one glass of whiskey to ease my mind and another to take it too far away to find’).

‘Electric guitars might give way to computers, as seems to be happening now, but the mountains will still be right there’ reflects Fulks. It’s a fitting contemplation and a reminder of the significance of honouring and sustaining the excellence of music from the past. Fulks has more than played his part in that regard and continues to do so with flying colours with BLUEGRASS VACATION, which should appeal to both bluegrass lovers and devotees from the roots and Americana world.

Review by Declan Culliton

Ben De La Cour Sweet Anhedonia Jullian

A new album to savour the delights in the exploration of the many characters created by Ben De La Cour, taken from many walks of life, though most are traveling on those uneven paths you end up tripping up on. This time out De La Cour turned to a producer he felt would be sympathetic to his overall vision. That was fellow singer/songwriter and life-experienced troubadour Jim White. White has not drastically changed the overall musical direction but brings a subtle hand to the desk, one that highlights the details and mood of these new songs.

Again we are guided through dark backroads, dark thoughts and the darker landscape that permeates the polarised viewpoints that are more than apparent in America (and elsewhere) these days. However the idiosyncratic apprehensions of many of his subjects would suggest that they have more immediate concerns than worrying about any such weighty ideals - no matter how much that may come to have relevance in the long term.

There is a core empathy in De La Cour’s writing that suggests he has an understanding of what forces bring them to that place in their lives. Like many writers of this quality, he inhabits these persona and lays out a place and time without making a judgement on the nature of that person.

Appalachian Book Of The Dead opens the album and from its conspicuous title augurs the tales to come. It reads like a screenplay synopsis for an American noir which reveals itself in small non-linear scenes an enticing introduction to the material that follows. The element of chance and luck is the premise of Number’s Game, a song written with Lynne Hanson and featuring Becky Warren on vocals. Why this the song was released as the first single is apparent from its immediate sense of melody, even if lyrically its sense of realism would mean it’s unlikely get played on mainstream radio. 

From there on we take a journey down a particularly heartworn highway that passes through Maricopa County, wherein the solo trumpet adds to the sense of foreboding on the track. Shine On The Highway travels that road with an endless vista of a forgotten small town America. It again highlights De La Cour and White’s marriage of interesting sounds and sugary writing. The title track is a somewhat softer take on the lives of those whose faces don’t entirely rhyme, who tend to be in a place where they can feel nothing at all. Elizabeth Cook joins in on the kind of gritty savageness that is well expressed by the title Suicide Of Town. Next we’re heading into Palookavile with mining camps, memories of Buddy Holly and unsuitable venues along the way to that final destination. Trumpet and piano are again central to the pervasive mood and noirish frame of mind.

Taking a more personal insight is Brother, which looks deep into another life who may or may not be a sibling, but offers the credo to “keep your head up high and keep your profile low” on the off chance you might avoid the devil’s glance. More discordant, with a distinct Tom Waits disposition in the first part, is the penultimate American Mind - as fragmented as you might expect in current (and past) times. It has an arrangement that seems to divide the song into two distinct sections that work in tandem, noting that “the road to heaven is paved with sorrow.” The album ends with a sense of hopeful ambiguity, over an acoustic guitar and fiddle treatise on what thinking I’ve Got Everything I Ever Wanted and what that might be.The child’s voice in its coda points to a hope for a better future for the next generation.

Of course, these are my interpretations of these intriguing songs, and may not entirely be what was intended by their author. Nevertheless, this is an album I have been listening to for some time and it is a career best for De La Cour and one that singles him out as being among the very best singer/songwriters working today (or at any time).

Review by Stephen Rapid

Discovering new music is not always the easiest thing, you rely on reviews from certain magazines where you know the writer’s own preferences are close to your own. Or there are a number of websites you trust to give you the heads up. Apart from that you need to sort through submissions, many of which are totally unsuitable for Lonesome Highway. You can, though, discover some real gems that way too. The following album was one highlighted by the Saving Country Music website - a site well worth investigating.

Sam Munsick Johnny Faraway Self Release

The Munsick family are a well regarded family of musicians, whose father Dave was a champion fiddle player who taught his three sons to play - all have a love of country music (especially with the added defining suffix of Western) which they play together as The Munsick Boys. Tris released his debut solo album NEXT TO NOWHERE in 2010. Ian is the youngest but has signed a deal with Warner Music Nashville and may have the biggest profile.

However the family member we are most concerned with here is Sam. He has released this second album, JOHNNY FARAWAY, recently as a follow up to his debut RODEO ROAD. The album is honest and true to a tradition which has seen a major resurgence in recent times, led by artists like Colter Wall, Corb Lund, Riddy Armen, Andy Hedges and Wylie Gustafson. The loss of icons of the genre like Ian Tyson, Don Edwards and Chris Ledoux means there is a need for new artists to fill that saddle.

Sam Munsick is a definite candidate with his tales of cowboys, rodeos, ranches and the characters who inhabit them and the bars that service them. He does so here with nine self-penned songs that are as full of life as the people who are the subjects of the material. The album features some top notch playing from co-producer and multi-instrumentalist Cody Angel, alongside the other producer and rhythm guitarist Tyler McCollum. The rhythm section is Glenn Fukunaga on bass and drummer Pat Manske. Ron Huckabee plays piano and brothers Dave and Ian are involved too. All in all, a set of players well able to do justice to these likeable songs.

Sam adds his prominent, personable voice and guitar which serve as the core of the performances. While some artists have favoured a more stripped down approach (campfire like) of voice and guitar with some subtle additional instruments touches, this album seems more like a Friday/Saturday night out. There is the opportunity to sing along, to dance and to be drawn into the obvious joy that ensues. 1-80 Lady and Marana Marie are taken up with the subject of the ladies who are very much a part of the lives of these folks. There is a country rock edge to Old Montana that feels right for the song and for the album’s overriding balance of work and play. 1922 is about the comparison between thinking of departed love and a painting by the renowned western artist Charles M Russell. It compares the fact that his paintings are still around, unlike the person he wishes still was. Cayuse Twister is the tale of an old timer whose saddle was his home. It has a Western Swing flavour that is pretty tasty. There are similar approaches to songs such as Smokey’s Bones, though here it is the horse not the man who is lauded. The attraction (or addiction) of the rodeo life is the theme of In Trouble On The Bubble.

The ballad setting of the title track feels like it could have been based on an old Irish traditional song from sometime in the last century, as many of the songs of the genre did. It again highlights the warmth of Sam Munsick’s voice and how easy it is to enjoy the whole dang thing. The final track Smokin’ Joe ends with a spoken outro, like a stage announcer thanking us for joining Sam in this particular performance.

Well I for one sure did and I think you might too if you have a liking for country and western music this well put together and played. This is music from the heart, coming from an authentic place that is never faraway.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Jake Ybarra Something In The Water The Orchard

A new name to me and to many others I would imagine but if he continues to develop the potential that he shows on this his debut album, he will be a name to watch out for in the future. Ybarra (the Y should be pronounced as an E) has written all ten songs, which show a writing style that manages to consider some of the less obvious but revealing details, alongside those bigger issues that are part of the day to day existence that so many face and can therefore relate to. He has an unmistakeable understanding of those he writes about. That may be from personal experience or from close observation of these he has, thus far, encountered, often influenced by several authors rather than just singer/songwriters.

He is a Texan but grew up in South Carolina and there was a member of a choir, which was where he began to explore what a voice, and specifically his voice, can do. That was in the Southern Baptist community, and his next interest was on the sports field, before he immersed himself in the blues guitar styles that were much in favour. The next revelation was when he began to consider the lyrical content of the material he was listening to at the time, noting the sadness and beauty those songs and writers revealed.

He released an EP locally before that led to the opportunity of recording this album. He worked with William Gawley as producer and a team that included Billy Thomas on drums, bassist Dow Tomlin, David Flint on guitar and keyboardist Dane Bryant rounding out the band. They all serve Yberra well and bring something extra to the songs, something that is pretty crucial on a debut release.

There is a variety in the delivery in terms of tempo and mood and one is immediately taken with songs like the title song both with the arrangement and with the story line unfolding. Equally, Savannah’s Song is a similarly paced acoustically rooted song with subtle instrumental support. The contemplative Long Winter is a descriptive tale of remembrances of that season’s time and endeavours. Call Me By My Name has a sense of longing and a wish for company that is perhaps both hopeful as well as having a degree of dejectedness that fits the musical setting. We are again in similar territory with Disappear. 

Other songs such as Bloodfire or the riff-woven A Whole Lot To Remember and the lead track (and one of the album highlights) Late November kick it up a notch and drive the album along in a way that sees the running order working as a balance that gives the whole album its overall identity.

Throughout Ybarra’s voice and songwriting impress, with his ability to mix the plaintive and plain-spoken with the  perceptive. All in all, a thumbs up for a new name that is likely to have a a shot for a place alongside the greats of the Texas troubadour tradition. It must be something in the water.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Maggie Fraser The Way That I Wish It Was Self Release

This is a debut release from Toronto based Maggie Fraser, a songwriter with many years of experience writing for other artists. In 2008, local Ontario singer and multi-instrumentalist Colleen Hodgson paid tribute to Fraser on her release, Songs of Maggie. All these years later, Fraser steps up to the microphone and takes her place in the spotlight. There is a sense of symmetry in the fact that Hodgson appears as a support and background vocalist on two of the ten songs featured here.

Fraser handles all of the song-writing duties and plays acoustic guitar on six tracks. She also takes all lead vocals and her delivery could be something of an acquired taste to new listeners. It is a cross between Marianne Faithful and Lucinda Wiliams in cadence and timbre. Production duties are handled by husband Alec Fraser, who also contributes on bass and guitars, banjo, keyboards, drums and percussion.

Other musicians on the project are Denis Keldie (electric piano, organ, accordion), Chris Bartos (violins, moog bass, fiddle, pedal steel), Rich Roxborough (keyboards, piano), James McKie (mandolin, bodhrán), Chris Staig (guitar), and Ed White (drums). Together, the band recorded at Liquid studio in Toronto and the results are captured in this engaging album of songs that cover a whole range of emotions, from self-reflection to fear of the future, analysing grief and trying to get beyond feelings of depression, to embracing hope for the future.   

Outside of her interest in music, Fraser is a qualified Psychotherapist who runs her own practice and who navigates life changes for her clients as much as she tries to express her own journey in song. Her husband, Alec Fraser, as well as taking on production duties is also a respected blues musician who developed the Circus Bass, an upright bass with seven drum sounds attached, played with his hands and a brush. He plays this instrument on three of the songs featured here.

Your Ghost is an interesting take on the grief of losing a loved one and the lyrics ‘Tomorrow is a betraying word, Don’t believe all the lines you’ve heard, Just when you need her most, she doesn’t come through,’ give a sense of loneliness and a sense of fear in the future. The Cornfield is a song that laments the way that the earth has been abused and the image of its essence as a young girl that has been ignored is wrapped in a country tinged arrangement with pedal steel and fiddle featured.

After the Loving is a song about lost love and Our Little Canoe looks at the ability to carry on regardless, no matter what life puts in our way ‘Our little canoe, onward we travel, Though kingdoms unravel and time falls away.’ With the song, The Way That I Wish It Was, Fraser looks at a life lived by an immigrant who was married at sixteen as part of a pre-arranged union. The difference in the lives that we are given, and forced to live against the freedom to choose. It takes strength to endure.

Going to Hell is about domestic abuse and the regrets born of the price paid for dark deeds. The title track tells of unrequited love and has an easy country influenced arrangement with some fine piano and guitar lines, courtesy of Denis Keldie and Alec Fraser. Wild Black Dogs looks at our fears and our hopes, keeping down the feelings of being out of control. The final track Song For Susan is a tribute to a friend who has passed on.

As a debut album, this contains plenty to entertain and is an interesting look into the creative muse of a talented artist.

Review by Paul McGee

Dougie Poole The Rainbow Wheel Of Death Wharf Cat

This New York singer-songwriter has been releasing music since his debut EP first appeared in 2016. He released a full album Wideass Highway in 2017, and followed this up with a second release in 2020 and the arrival of The Freelancer's Blues. The lockdown years proved a time of both challenge and reward for Poole as he negotiated his feelings and emotions across the isolation of having to stop playing and touring for a living.

In 2021 he released a 13-track Live Bootlegs album that covered recordings between 2018 and 2020. All the songs were performed at Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn, New York and originally released on the podcast, Dougie Poole's Special Delivery.  He is a very interesting artist who has taken his early influences from indie-based music and punk to approach a new take on country music as a genre that can fuse genuine songcraft with synth based sounds, Wurlitzer and traditional pedal steel. The results are very impressive and engaging across nine tracks that run just short of thirty-four minutes and leave a lasting impression.

The title track refers to that icon that greets us on our computer screens every time our machine buffers and the waiting can be related to feelings of being stuck, something that we all experienced during the pandemic lockdowns. Poole sings ‘Been waiting here so long, For something good to load.’ In the very poignant High School Gym Poole reflects upon those who have died and now form part of his dreams where they populate the benches in his old school gym. ‘There’s just one question that’s on everybody’s mind, Hell, they ask me every time that I stop in, Can’t you turn back time? Can’t you curve that line? So we can roll the old dice again, Oh, but the house, it always wins.’ Superb song-writing and such bittersweet reflection on the wheel of life.

Poole delivers a soft vocal that blends in easily with the understated playing. It’s very much a case of less is more in the gentle melodies and song arrangements. Worried Man Blues 2 and Nickles and Dimes are two songs about relationship woes and the ever-present push and pull of conflicting emotions mixed with poor communication channels. Beth David Cemetery is located in New York and the song talks of regular undertaker visits to deliver another corpse; ‘I’m headed home to give you back another one.’

Must Be In Here Somewhere is a search on a computer hard drive for an old message that has gotten lost and the memory of an old lover that lingers and haunts.  I Lived My Whole Life Last Night has a similar sense of something lost and speaks of regret ‘I ate the whole apple in just one bite, I ate the core, the seeds, the stem, just like I said I might.’ The final song is one of guarded hope and the overriding emotion of I Hope My Baby Comes Home Soon is one of wanting to be held and comforted.

Poole wrote all the songs during 2021 in his apartment before bringing them to co-producers Nate Mendelsohn and Katie Von Schleicher. Over a period of five days they worked in the intimate space of a suburban home, temporarily turned into a small studio and invited a group of players to join in the live, off the floor experience. Sean Mullins (drums, organ, wurlitzer), Brian Betancourt (bass), Mike Etten (guitars), Jack McLoughlin (pedal steel, resonator guitar) were joined by producer Katie Von Schleicher (Wurlitzer, synths, vocals), and Nate Mendelsohn (vocals, horns), Dan iead (pedal steel) and Zhanah Wyche (vocals) appear on  different tracks. Dougie Poole leads the ensemble on main vocal duties together with guitar, synth and harmonica contributions. This is a very restrained album that is full of sweetly observed moments and it is certainly worthy of your investment.

Review by Paul McGee

Roxy Gordon Crazy Horse Never Died Paradise Of Bachelors

A renowned Texas poet, journalist, artist, activist, and musician; Roxy Gordon was a Choctaw and Assiniboine native American. He lived from 1945 until his death in 2000 and is remembered on this reissue of a previous work that was first recorded in 1988. In his day he was feted by the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Leonard Cohen, and Terry Allen. Butch Hancock, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and Billy Joe Shaver also identified with him as fellow Texan songwriters. However, Gordon was more defined by his wide-ranging work that encompassed poetry, short fiction, essays, memoirs, journalism, and criticism. His primary subject as a writer, musician, and visual artist was always American Indian culture, specifically the ways it collided and coexisted with European American culture and with his own life experience.

I am reminded of the similar works created by John Trudell (1946-2015), another native American author, poet, actor, musician, and political activist. He served as the chairman of the American Indian Movement, and his pregnant wife, three children and mother-in-law were killed in 1979 in a suspicious fire at the home of his parents-in-law.

On this album of ten spoken word pieces, Gordon comments on the way in which history has been written and distorted by the white man in the search for land and wealth across the great plains of America. History is always written by the victors and in subjecting native American first nation peoples to life on reservations, the hurt and callous disregard for empathy and human kindness can never to forgotten.

The indomitable spirit of a subjugated people can never be broken and that very fortitude is perfectly captured in the soul of Crazy Horse. He stands as an enduring symbol for the ongoing fight and for the past suffering that has paved the way towards a challenging future. Both The Hanging Of Black Jack Ketchum and I Used To Know An Assiniboine Girl recount the true stories of events that went unpunished and Life As A Living Target sums up the reality of having to survive against the odds of keeping others alive by personal sacrifice, being willing to die for the ultimate survival of other races.

In An Open Letter to Illegal Aliens Gordon highlights capitalism, communism, materialism and money, Christianity, and Judaism, as the sickness imported by European immigrants to the USA and  to unspoilt lands that had been thriving for thousands of years before their arrival. This is a timely message that conservative white America should absorb in the midst of their current hysteria about immigration policies.

The musical accompaniment is provided by Brad Bradley on keyboards and guitar and Frank X Tolbert on washtub bass.  It is a stark recording, raw at both the core and along the edges. It is an absorbing listen that reaches from beyond the grave full of insight and sharply honed wisdom.

Review by Paul McGee

Carter Sampson, Robbie Fulks, Ben de la Cour, Sam Munsick, Jake Ybarra, Dougie Poole

Spencer Cullum Jr., Maggie Fraser, Roxy Gordon

New Album Reviews

Rachel Baiman Common Nation of Sorrow Signature Sounds

Aside from being a gifted multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and vocalist, Rachel Baiman’s unwavering commitment to addressing social issues and injustice is in little doubt. A co-founder of the musician-led organisation, Folks Fight Back, Baiman is Nashville based but was raised in Chicago by parents who both were political activists. Her 2017 album, SHAME, tackled thorny political issues head-on and featured in our favourite albums of that year. Her second full album, CYCLES, which followed in 2021, also addressed more personal matters of the heart.

This self-produced album was recorded in twelve days at The Tractor Shed in Nashville and was mixed by Tucker Martine (Rosanne Cash, My Morning Jacket, Aoife O’Donovan). It plays out as a ‘state of the nation’ in political terms, with particular emphasis on the economic oppression forced upon so many ordinary people in America. Baiman sets that scene with the opener SomeStrange Notion and airs her frustration and exasperation on Bad Debt. Optimism is seldom on the agenda, although the Gillian Welch-sounding Bitter, notwithstanding its lyrical content, is simply gorgeous. The banjo-led John Hartford cover, Self Made Man, is an endorsement of Baiman’s love of old school country and Lovers and Leavers is directed towards her bipolar disorder, a diagnosis which she only received in recent years. Annie, possibly autobiographical, is written from the perspective of a young girl trying to make sense of the adult world surrounding her. 

 Despite the dark overtones, and bruised and tender lyrics, Baiman has created an uplifting listening experience with COMMON NATION OF SORROW. While the album's quality owes much to the intimate vocals of Baiman and harmonies from Erin Rae, the standard of musicianship from the assembled players is equally splendid. An artist always questioning while on her creative quest and never one to reinvent herself, this record is a worthy companion to her previous recordings and a highly recommended listen.

Review by Declan Culliton

Dom Flemons Traveling Wildfire Smithsonian Folkways

Chicago-based musician and historian Dom Flemons’ latest recording, which runs for a healthy fifty-six minutes, is a fifteen-track album of both original songs and reconstructions of traditional folk songs. The Grammy award-winning artist describes the collection as ‘a statement of my personal travel experiences…. and stories can travel from generation to generation bringing important lessons from the past into the present and the future.’

Together with vocals, the majority of the instrumentation (acoustic guitar, banjo, drums, percussion, electric bass, electric guitar and quills) was performed by Flemons. Contributions are also credited to mandolinist, Sam Bush, and former  Pogues accordion and piano player, James Fearnley. Ted Hutt, previously a member of Flogging Molly, and who worked at the controls on albums by Old Crow Medicine Show, Lucero and Violent Femmes, produced the album, which was recorded at Kingsize Soundlabs in Los Angeles.

Flemons’ work with Carolina Chocolate Drops was a refreshing venture into the traditional musical history of yesteryear embracing folk, country, western and blues genres and he continues that application on TRAVELLING WILDFIRE. Opening with a waltz, Slow Dance With You, and closing with the lively instrumental, Songster Revival, there is nothing approaching a filler in between. Impressive covers of Dylan’s tribute to Woody Guthrie, Guess I’m Doing Fine and the Jimmie Strothers’ penned We Are Almost Down To The Shore are included. Every bit as fetching are self-written westerns, Nobody Wrote It Down and Dark Beauty.

There has been a noticeable resurgence in Western culture in album releases in recent times and this gem is a continuation of that welcome development. A leading light in this regard, Flemons’ 2018 album DOM FLEMONS PRESENTS BLACK COWBOYS was another signpost to his commitment to this genre. Romantic without being overly sentimental and political without being high-handed, this release addresses its author's personal journey, together with that of his forefathers, elegantly and noteworthily.

Review by Declan Culliton

The Scarlet Goodbye Hope’s Eternal Angel Dust

The pedigree of Minneapolis band The Scarlet Goodbye is most impressive, combining the talents of Daniel Murphy (Golden Smog, Soul Asylum) and singer songwriter/ producer Jeff Arundel, whose back catalogue includes five previous albums dating back to his debut record COMPASS from 1993.

Following a ten-year absence from recording (‘In 2012 I sold all the guitars and amps, now I’m busy buying them all back’), Murphy’s interest in making music was rekindled once more by a casual invitation into Arundel’s studio following a chance meeting in a local coffee shop. That meeting of minds and renewed enthusiasm on Murphy’s part soon morphed into the pair writing and recording the twelve tracks on HOPE’S ETERNAL. Similarly to the brainstorming that resulted in four exceptionally listenable albums by ‘supergroup’ Golden Smog, you could be forgiven in assuming that this recording was an archived album, recorded in the late 60s, but only seeing the light of day now. The duo gathered together a host of Minneapolis’ finest players in Ben Peterson (drums), Patrick Nelson (bass), Michael Nelson (percussion, keyboards) and Pat Fredrick (violin) to fashion this blend of breezy Brit power-pop and jangly American country rock.

The pick of the crop are the instantly catchy and sweet-sounding Angel Dust and Sandy, the latter recalling Fountains of Wayne at their sharpest. It’s not all fun-filled stock either. The dark and brooding The Ballad Of Julie Ann and the album’s swansong Minor Things, which addresses dementia, both tackle thorny matters sensitively. A cover of Husker Du’s Celebrated Summer is also included, but unlike the manic original version, the inclusion is less chaotic and unrestrained.

Despite The Scarlet Goodbye being christened ‘the most unlikely mash-up in Minnesota music history’, HOPE’S ETERNAL is loaded with positive energy, and hooks galore, and is a lovely listening experience.

Review by Declan Culliton

Bennett Wilson Poole I Saw A Star Behind Your Eyes, Don’t Let It Die Away BWP/SRD

A meeting of minds between three artists with somewhat dissimilar backgrounds, the self-titled album from Bennett Wilson Poole, released nearly five years ago, resulted in the band winning the 2019 UK Artist of The Year Award at the AMAUK’s.  Deemed a diversion and a one-off at that time, such was the acclaim of that album that Tony Poole (Starry Eyed & Laughing) Danny Wilson (Grand Drive, Danny & The Champions of The World) and Robin Bennett’s (Dreaming Spires) thoughts turned to a further musical adventure along similar lines.

Covid and illness among the ranks delayed the release of this ten-track album by a couple of years. The end product, while deviating somewhat from the more West Coast vibe of the debut album, recreates the classic three-piece harmonies, sublime guitar playing, and razor-sharp rhythm section, the latter courtesy of Fin Kenny (drums) and Joe Bennett (bass), which worked so well on their first project.

While not entirely abandoning their West Coast influences - echoes of CSN&Y are to the fore on the gorgeous Help Me See My Way - dynamics closer to home dominate, in particular 60s Brit-pop. In a manner similar to Starry Eyed & Laughing unapologetically following in the footsteps of their principal mentors The Byrds, the album plays out like a ‘thumbs up’ to the bands and artists closest to their hearts. With the master craftsman and godfather of the band, Tony Poole, at the controls, the production is faultless with emphasis on the shared vocals and harmonies.

They name-check their American heroes -   Andy Warhol, Kerouac, Grateful Dead, Aretha Franklin, Walt Whitman and Bobby Kennedy - against the backdrop of the Trump-era with I Wanna Love You (But I Can’t Right Now). Tie-Dye T-Shirt, with its slick Who-like intro, takes a pertinent dig at the ghastly TV makeover shows and cleverly includes a one-off refrain borrowed from Love Affair’s Everlasting Love (‘open up your eyes, open up your eyes’). The melodic Yvonne tips its hat in mid-60s Lennon/McCartney direction and Heart Songs has a matching classic vintage pop undertone.

Harking to past eras but with a modern spin and a fitting heir to its predecessor, I SAW A STAR BEHIND YOUR EYES, DON’T LET IT DIE AWAY has the capacity to set your pulse racing in places and provide tender and reflective moments elsewhere. Doffing their collective hats in the direction of best-loved artists and eras, and unashamedly nostalgic, the album is classic jukebox fare from a bygone time.

Review by Declan Culliton

John Calvin Abney Tourist Black Mesa

When the world decided to stay home when the pandemic hit, John Calvin Abney did the complete opposite. His lease was up in California (and the wildfires were raging) so he decided to go on a road trip through the US, staying with friends or in hotels, through Nevada, Texas and his native Oklahoma, and that trip fuelled the songs on his latest album. Aptly named TOURIST, he recorded the album solo in his portable studio (whatever that means), and sent the songs to John Moreland, who produced it remotely, while also adding percussion, bass and backing vocals. The result is a pop leaning, folky affair filled with melodic hooks, and layers of dreamy vocals, creating a shimmering soundscape.

Holy Golden West is one of the standout songs - influenced by his Californian environment, Abney’s lyrics are keenly observed, with descriptions of nature, but then ominously ‘ashes fall like snow from cigarette skies’, an obvious metaphor for the wildfires. It’s a personal cry for help and a seeking of safety, the ache in his breathy vocals almost drowned by the layers of soft percussion, piano, bass, chimes and harmony vocals. Watch Me Go (Back In Time) is another tale of unravelling and vulnerability, while By Your Leave uses acoustic guitars and swirly synths to good effect in this slow paced evocation of silence, sunset and moonlight.

Abney somehow manages to play a myriad of instruments on this record, from guitars to synths to Wurlitzer and more, presumably not all were stashed in his vehicle for the journey!

Worth checking out - it’s a grower.                

Review by Eilís Boland

Kelley Smith Moon Child Self Release

Sometimes, just sometimes, a record comes along and stops you in your tracks. That is what happened when I first listened to this debut 5-track EP from Kelley Smith. Unusually, Smith only began to write songs in the past couple of years, while approaching her 40th birthday. A Minnesota native, who plays several instruments, she has been busy with life, including rearing four children. She freely admits that she has social anxiety, and has recently discovered her voice through songwriting.

The title track takes the form of a conversation between a couple, where one is a dreamer and one the steadying tether. There’s a pull, over and back between the ‘moon child’ and ‘her anchor, her stay’, ‘Moon child, the night is for dreamers like us/So I’ll be the tether to your wanderlust’. Swathed in gently fingerpicked acoustic guitar, supported by claw hammer banjo, and a hint of slide guitar, it’s also our introduction to Smith’s most distinctive vocal tone - somewhere between Iris deMent and Gillian Welch. Marriage is a taking stock in a long established relationship, ‘seems we close our eyes and wake up old’, where staleness has crept in, ‘did we almost lose each other/in the arms of one another’? But where there’s love, there’s hope, ‘find some patience and some kindness, too/melt the ice that grew in me, and you’.

Smith credits her Toronto based producer, Joel Schwartz, for ensuring that she managed to realise her dream of making a record, something she thought unattainable. His production here is sublime, allowing her vocals and lyrics to take centre stage. He adds resonator guitar, along with a soupçon of mandolin, banjo, electric guitar or piano, exactly when needed, barely there yet so effective.

Dust is one of the most powerful songs exploring grief that I have ever heard. Poignant, yet full of celebration of the love that existed in life, and still remains. ‘Seems like yesterday your hand was warming mine/And now you’ve slipped though my fingers…’ In Tea and Whiskey, there’s a longing for the early days, the carefree days of youth and early love, and a whimsical journey of escape to the moon. Clearly autobiographical, in the exquisite I’ll Let Go she takes a leap of faith, into the unknown, ‘take me now, to the end of the road/beyond what I think I know’.

I, for one, am glad that Kelley Smith took that leap of faith and I can’t wait to hear where the road will lead her next.

Review by Eilís Boland

Peach and Quiet Beautiful Thing Self Release

This album is a follow up to a 2021 debut, Just Beyond the Shine, which was recorded during the pandemic and released to very positive reviews. The partnership of Heather Read and Jonny Miller join together as the creative centre of the music and the twelve songs are very much based around the topic of relationships in all their different forms.

As a couple, their talents and commitment shine through and their songs of love and life certainly leave a positive impression. Their romance is celebrated in the opening song and album title Beautiful Thing and their life on the shores of Pender Island, off Canada's west coast, sounds idyllic.

This sense of joy as a duo is also celebrated in songs like That Is For Sure and When You’re Gone, both of which speak of a shared devotion and a love united. However, there are plenty of dark turns on the road and the search for happiness and this duo mix it up quite a bit on other songs, with Pockets Empty visiting the topic of domestic abuse and Oklahoma or Arkansas highlighting the urge to just get away, buy a motor cycle and drive out towards new beginnings.

The theme of missing someone and the lonely feelings of separation are captured in other songs like Just Before the Dawn, This Time and Save Me Tonight. The dual message of desire and longing is captured nicely on the bluesy groove of Horse and Saddle with the superb pedal steel and keyboard infusions adding great dynamic to the playing. Heather Read features on four songs and her arresting vocal is a highlight; Jonny Miller provides lead vocal on the other songs and together, their harmony vocals dove-tail sweetly together.

The musicianship is quite superb throughout with the dual guitar playing of Read and Miller perfectly complimented by producer and guitar maestro Steve Dawson.  He brings the magic dust to so many of the albums that he produces, with just the right amount of what is needed on the overall feel and groove of every track. Chris Gestrin plays keyboards on the project and his inclusion is a change from the first album which works really well, adding nice colour and warmth to the songs. The rhythm section of Jeremy Holmes on bass and Gary Craig on drums features again and provides the foundation for the other players to enhance the arrangements. A really tight band sound with great moments of guitar and keyboard embellishment.

Behind the Sun is the longest track here and a real joy with the guitar playing channelling the energy of a Neil Young work-out. A song that has a brooding quality and great imagery around the dark spectre of dishonesty and secrecy. Take a well-earned bow to all concerned. A very enjoyable album with much to recommend it.

Review by Paul McGee

Steve Dawson Eyes Closed, Dreaming Black Hen

This release completes a hat-trick of albums, referred to as the “pandemic trilogy” by Steve Dawson and all released within the last twelve months. Gone, Long Gone appeared in March last year and it created the blueprint for what has turned out to be a thrilling and productive time in Dawson’s career. Phantom Thread followed in August last and was an instrumental album with eleven songs of timeless quality played by a select group of players that just merged seamlessly into a cohesive whole. The quality of playing across the three albums has been of the highest level and the featured musicians compliment Dawson so perfectly in the beautiful playing.

Alberta songwriter Matt Patershuk has worked with Dawson over past years and five albums appeared as a result of their collaboration. The duo have developed a song-writing partnership over the course of this album trilogy and four of the tracks featured here are a strong example of success achieved in their shared talents.

Dawson also covers songs from Ian Tyson (Long Time To Get Old), Bobby Charles (Small Town Talk), Cowboy Jack Clement (Guess Things Happen That Way), and John Hartford (Let Him Go Mama). There are two interpretations of traditional songs, House Carpenter and Singin’ the Blues, both of which highlight the scope of inventive playing by the trusted musicians that Steve has called upon from past projects. Regular studio stalwarts Gary Craig and Jeremy Holmes provide the always inventive rhythm section with Chris Gestrin contributing on all manner of keyboards. They are augmented on various tracks by the drumming and percussive skills of Jay Bellerose (five tracks), with Fats Kaplin and Tim O’Brien guesting on mandolin. Vocals are ably handled by Dawson himself and Alison Russell guests on three songs, as does Dawson’s daughter Casey. Kevin McKendree adds organ and piano on one track and Keri Latimer appears as guest vocalist on two songs. The horn section of Jerry Cook (baritone sax), Dominic Conway (tenor sax) and Malcolm Aiken (trumpet) make a great impression on Small Town Talk and also returning are the excellent Ben Plotnick (violin, viola) and Kaitlyn Raitz (cello) on the standout Hemmingway.

Mentioning all these players is important in the context that four separate locations were used in bringing the overall sound together. Various recordings were captured in Los Angeles, Nashville, Toronto and Vancouver on a remote basis and it is a huge tribute to Dawson that he makes the disparate parts blend so easily together. The production is vibrant and filled with great moments where you just want to hit the repeat button and experience the brilliance one more time. There are two instrumental tracks, Waikiki Stonewall Rag and Singin’ the Blues, both of which perfectly illustrate the immense talent of Dawson across a range of guitars, proving beyond all doubt that he is indeed the king of the strings, no matter what form they may take! A vital record and one that breaks through all the confines of musical constraints.

Review by Paul McGee

One Adam One Where Do I Begin Die Trying

This release marks a welcome return to Adam Reichmann, once band leader of Nadine, alt-country darlings of the late 90s who released four albums on an excellent run, before breaking up to pursue other interests. Only five songs feature on this EP and the running time of eighteen minutes just leaves the listener wanting more. Reichmann is a fine writer and has such a haunting vocal style to match his languid delivery. The title song speaks of a confused state and trying to make sense of the surrounding world. Feelings of isolation come through in the words and a sense of longing for days gone past.

Living Between the Lines is a gentle, soothing lullaby that speaks of ‘counting dollars and days’ as a way of getting through the daily routine and ‘bottles full of wasted time, pretending that it’s fine.’ The sweet vocals of Stephanie Stewart add greatly to the sense of acceptance and getting on with living.

The song arrangements are beautifully structured with swathes of melody wrapping the vocals and heightening the performances. Hollywood Ending is one of those songs that stays in the memory as something that is infinitely hummable. Again, the wistful vocal style and the easy groove and chorus leaves you feeling fully invested. Cold Murmurs has an up-tempo beat with the harmony vocals complimenting the rhythmic drive of the song. The production builds to a great crescendo and we are asked to come ‘out of the shadows and into the light.’

The final song Platte River looks at memories of Nebraska and days spent trying to decide whether a relationship was worth a lasting commitment. Name checking Pink Floyd, Vonnegut and Salvador Dali captures the heady joys of youth ‘painting the landscape of a young man’s mind’. The song has memories tinged with regret at what gets left behind. The guitar break is nicely judged and the melody frames the realisation in the words that ‘I just wasn’t ready for love to be true, Sweet Alisha whatever happened to you.’

St. Louis, Missouri remains the home of Reichmann and his original Nadine band mate Todd Schnitzer produced this project in addition to co-writing all of the songs. I can’t wait for the second instalment.

Review by Paul McGee

Rachel Baiman, Dom Flemons, The Scarlet Goodbye, Bennett Wilson Poole, John Calvin Abney, Kelley Smith, Peach & Quiet, Steve Dawson, and One Adam One.

New Album Reviews

Chris Murphy Two Rivers Crossing Friendly Folk

Not many artists would have the ability, experience and confidence to pull this off, but for his nineteenth album, Chris Murphy has pared it right back to the bare bones. It’s just his violin, vocals and looping effects, a marked contrast to his previous recordings, or his work as a band leader and composer. Murphy loves touring constantly, both in his home state of California and occasionally in Europe, so this minimalist approach will naturally lend itself to travelling. Calling to mind the songs and playing of John Hartford, to an extent, Murphy’s influences, however, are very wide. Growing up in upstate New York, and as a student in NYC, he was exposed to a myriad of genres from bluegrass, Turkish, Irish (with a name like Murphy, his Irish roots are evident!) to gospel and jazz. This six track EP features five songs and an instrumental, and demonstrates his versatility and virtuosity on the violin, but also his ability to write a good song.

Early Grave finds him complaining about his woman, inspired in theme and sound by pre-war blues artists like Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee. She’s ‘cuter than a button, smarter than a whip’, ‘but she’s gonna send him to an early grave’ he intones in his warm and mellow voice, accompanied by his violin and a foot stomp. He adds plucked strings to fill out the sound on Into The Past, an intriguing series of vignettes about various characters on a long train journey, all of whom are either running from the past or even running back towards it. Long Ago uses layers of haunting violin and percussive looping to evoke a dream-like sequence, again reminiscing about past events and a certain person who haunts his thoughts, ‘we were friends once, long ago’. The menacing spirit of the border town on the porous Mexico/Texas border inspired The Wolves of Laredo, the stark fiddle accompaniment and soaring solos lending atmosphere and pathos to the story of the damaged characters inhabiting the song. Complete Surprise is an upbeat ditty of positivity, and the closer, Shantallow, is an instrumental in a sombre march, with a Celtic feel.

Review by Eilís Boland

Slaid Cleaves Together Through The Dark Self Release

First and foremost, Slaid Cleaves makes albums that sound good, they entertain and in a meaningful way offer an insight into the human condition that lingers in the mind. These are songs that detail the often overlooked details of the lives of the ordinary (and sometimes not so ordinary) men and women for whom the trials and tribulations of daily life are rarely easy. That he does so in a way that musically resonates too is not always the case, when the lyrical content is often so raw.

The album was recorded in Dripping Springs, Texas by Pat Manske, who also played on the album with the album’s principle players and co-producers, Cleaves and multi-instrumentalist Scrappy Jud Newcomb. This is the third album that the duo have made together and it’s obviously a team that works so well together. There is a depth and texture that never feels sparse or underplayed, but rather they get the balance right again.

The twelve songs have all got individual strengths and nuances that start with Through The Dark, an acclamation of love and togetherness against the gathering dark. It was co-written with Cleaves’ long time friend, and sometime co-writer, Rod Picott. This is one of several songs that talk about relationships from both sides, which is envisioned by the sentiment of Next Heartbreak, and how there is a need to carry on with hope, even when contemplating the next disappointment. Sparrow, also written by Cleaves and Picott, deftly considers the particulars of the isolation of a man who has lost his wife.

More reflective is Puncher’s Chance written by Cleaves and Brian Koppelman. It details a man looking back on some welcome mayhem from the past and admitting “I sometimes think about those wild, wild nights.” More in the nature of story telling, which he does so well, is Arnold Nash - based on an article in the Bangor Daily News, it turns out he was in truth “a good prisoner, a bad citizen / A terrible family man.”

Double Shift Tuesday weighs up the drudgery of work in a situation and life that could and should offer more than a minimum wage. It was written by Cleaves, Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines. The lines emphasise the feeling of trying to figure how they did “end up here”, its sadness underlined by the stripped-back arrangement. That theme appears again in the Adam Carroll co-write, Second Hand, that has Robin Ludwick on harmony vocals and the title conveys a life lived in that way. Put The Shovel Down offers an option to take the time out from the seemingly endless work and a likely end that finds a shovel again involved. Getting away, making a new start and moving from the city is the subject of Terlingua Chili Queen.

A wider view is the subject of Nature’s Darker Laws, a song he wrote with Karen Poston, weighing up the current divided landscape of America and beyond, in these troubled times. It is graced by a subtle musical performance that again highlights that aspect of the album, something that, as mentioned, is consistent throughout the album, and perfectly aligns the crafted writing with a context that brings the two together and accentuates the over-riding talent that Cleaves has developed through his albums, travel and personal growth.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Tim GrimmThe Little In-Between Cavalier

I have listened to the music of Tim Grimm over the years and it has always been a rewarding experience. He seems to be always moving forward,or at least consolidating and developing his ability to observe and comment on the people, places and political manifestations he encounters on his path. This new album, I think, does just that. It also brings the talents of the great Sergio Webb back into focus. Formerly Webb was the guitar foil for David Olney and a member of Pinto Bennett’s Famous Motel Cowboys. He, however, is just one of the components in place that lift this album to a new level. Alice Allen plays cello which gives a resonant character to the tracks she plays on. Webb is joined by Mark Clark and Justin Bransford on drums and bass, while Grimm adds his robust vocals and guitar to the forefront of the recordings.

This is his fourteenth release so, by now, he knows his way round the process of delivering his work to his audience. He has worked in the balladeering tradition of folk music that focused on his community, his family and his beliefs - often based around his family farm in Indiana. Here, he has again looked both inward and outward, and does so by placing the lyrics from a first person perspective throughout. The songs were written and recorded (Grimm’s parts anyway) in Oklahoma, with the Allen parts recorded in Scotland and the band tracking in New Mexico. It also marks the first time Grimm’s voice has been heard without harmony or backing vocals. There is a strongly emotional feel to many of the songs that are rooted often in the landscape and love.

The Leaving opens the album with voice, guitar and cello offering the hope of finding a new welcoming shore. By way of contrast, the next song Lonesome All The Time has more that a hint of Hank Williams Senior’s troubled tales and features, very effectively, Webb on guitar and pedal steel. These two directions offer the musical compass points that the album travels between. I Don’t Know The World has a discordant tone that fits and offsets the directness of Grimm’s voice and guitar.

The lyrics of Stirrin’ Up Trouble take a shot at those who like to poke their noses in where they are not wanted, again balancing the acoustic strumming against the electric guitar tone. More gentle and reflecting on the earth and the trees, nature and the loss of such is where The Breath Of Burning takes us. The lyric “the hardest part of losing things/is knowing when they’re gone” offering a truth to be told. New Boots is a gentle but heartfelt remembrance of his father (and mother) delivered in its simplest form, as suits the song. 

The list song format sees Grimm detailing again the association between a person and place.Twenty Years Of Shadows effectively uses the band to give it a driving rhythm and a harder edge. The closing song is a straight love song that offers a hope that is available to all and finds the two guitars intertwining to an effective liaison.

Album fourteen proves that Tim Grimm is far from the end of his musical journey and his partnering with Sergio Webb offers the possibility of an alliance that will be fruitful for both parties going forward.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Dave Gonzalez / Susanna Van Tassel Grits’n Gravy Lux

Perhaps best know for his role in The Paladins and The Hacienda Brothers, Dave Gonzalez is the heart of this album, which overall is closer to the soul-country that was part of the latter band’s sound. He is central here, playing guitars, bass and drums on several tracks but also producing and recording the album in Texas with Dillon Fernadez. Susanna Van Tassel adds her versatile vocals on several tracks on both lead and background vocals. They also have a wide cast of additional musicians involved on percussion, brass, keyboards and steel guitar.

Gonzalez is the main writer of the material included, mostly co-writing with a selection of partners. He has also chosen a number of covers which are solid pointers to the overall direction of the project. These include a very soulful take on William Bell favourite Private Number, another fitting choice is the Dan Penn/Spooner Oldham penned Do Something. The final cover is Until You Came Into My Life co-written by Ann Peebles. 

The overall feel will not surprise those who have followed Gonzalez’s career, outside of his longtime involvement with the more rockabilly oriented Paladins. The title of the Hacienda Brothers album Western Soul is a summation of this album’s credentials. It is a treat, after the opening, somewhat groovy, instrumental, to hear a pairing like I Could Fall In Love With You, wherein the two voices show how this real life duo have found a musical partnership too. This continues throughout the album, with one or other taking the lead vocal. Let’s Hideaway finds Van Tassel’s countrified vocal becoming sultry, with the conga and saxophone elements. The title track, all funky guitar and organ, hits a very 60s mood again and throws up a lot of memories of comparison. It also highlights Gonzalez multifaceted guitar skills and adaptability.

The pair made a previous country-oriented album and I Still Believe is very much in that vein, vocals in close harmony over piano and weeping steel guitar. Gonzalez wrote this with Chris Gaffney and Jeb Schoonover and it would be good to hear more in this vein in the future. (Though if you want to check out that excellent country duet side of their collaboration then THINK WE’RE GONNA BE ALRIGHT will be something you want to check out. Go to www.luxrecordsusa.com for this and other related releases from the Hacienda Brothers).Those who have a love for the kind of soul music that abounded a few decades ago will equally love this. Fans of The Delines would also be advised to check it out.  

Another door of possibility is open on the last track, a spaghetti western-styled instrumental that features the harmonica of Ted Roddy prominently, alongside some lonesome trumpet playing, which only serves to underline that GRITS ‘n GRAVY (Vol 1) was intended to cover some different but largely compatible territory musically and it succeeds in that. It also gives these two artists a platform to display their individual and combined talents, as it also does those some additional performers who contributed to this enjoyable album.

Review by Stephen Rapid

Drayton Farley Twenty On High Hargrove/Thirty Tigers

Produced by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit guitarist, Sadler Vaden, TWENTY ON HIGH is the third release in three years from Alabama native Drayton Farley. His first full band recording, it follows on from HARGROVE & SWEET SOUTHERN SADNESS (2020) and A HARD LIFE (2021). Those previous and mainly acoustic albums earmarked an artist with obvious songwriting prowess, writing from the heart and with a voice ideally suited to the Americana genre. An overcrowded marketplace can make it virtually impossible for artists such as Farley to achieve the exposure that they deserve, but TWENTY ON HIGH, with its beefed-up and fuller sound, could very well raise Farley’s profile by quite a number of notches.

Recorded at Sound Emporium Studio in Nashville - and with Vaden possibly influencing its musical direction - the album slots into the genre occupied with flying colours by Jason Isbell at present. Whether that pigeonhole is Americana or heartland rock, the ten tracks on the album are a collection of first-person stories that draw the listener in, through both their content and delivery.

The recurring theme across the album is the passage of time and  personal goals and aims that may or may not have been fulfilled. The opening track,Stop The Clock, and album closer, All My Yesterdays Have Passed, find the writer mulling over these matters, and the inevitable self-doubt that accompanies them features on Something Wrong (Inside My Head). Above My Head focuses on the sacrifices of leaving home and following your dreams. The draw and security of the homestead also emerge on the title track and Alabama Moon. The latter features backing vocals by Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield.

Farley’s reflective mindset in exploring his mental vulnerabilities and personal journey to date could have resulted in a self-indulgent project. The end result is quite the opposite, with the writer continuing to seek the meaning of life. Those thoughts and reflections are skillfully expressed on this coherent and deeply melodic album.

Review by Declan Culliton 

Lauren Morrow People Talk Big Kitty

 ‘I used to write stories, made-up things about others I’d imagined in my head, but this record is all true to me. There’s not a single lyric that hasn’t happened to me in some shape or form,’ explains Lauren Morrow in the press release for her debut solo long player PEOPLE TALK.

It’s been quite a journey both personally and professionally for the Atlanta-raised artist.  Never the conformist, Morrow’s musical journey kicked off writing songs in her bedroom, followed by forming her first band while majoring in English at Georgia State University. She relocated temporarily to Newcastle, England, where she honed her songwriting before fronting the Atlanta-based country rockers, The Whiskey Gentry, for a decade.

The latest - and possibly final leg - of Morrow’s odyssey finds her and her husband settled in Nashville since 2017 and working on her solo material. She released her self-titled debut EP in 2018. A four-track collection, it highlighted both Morrow’s crystalline vocal and her ability to pen and record songs that slotted soundly into the Country/Americana genre. PEOPLE TALK strays somewhat from that template with ten songs that, while not abandoning a roots sound, are often closer in structure to power pop.

The recording of the album commenced in 2019 at Sound Emporium in Nashville under the supervision of producer and multi-instrumentalist, Parker Carson, who also co-wrote a number of the album’s tracks. Like many recordings around that time, it was interrupted during the pandemic. With her income stream at a standstill and time on her hands, Morrow revisited a number of the songs and, as a measure of their commitment to the project, took out a second mortgage on their house to fund the album’s recording and release.

Matters close to home raise their head on the opener, I’m Sorry. Written following a tiff with her husband, it’s one of a number of selections that visit domestic issues. Family Tree finds Morrow tracing her ancestry and the factors, outside our control, that often determine our demeanour. Instantly catchy are Only Nice When I’m High and Looking For Trouble, the latter is a reconstruction of a song previously recorded by The Whiskey Gentry. Hustle, which features Lloyd Green on pedal steel and backing vocals from Joshua Hedley, reveals the real-life endeavours that Morrow carried out - from house painting to selling weed - to survive during the pandemic.

There’s no doubt that Morrow has poured her heart and soul into PEOPLE TALK. Directed towards self-examination, the songs are often infused with a dry sense of humour, but the real winners are Morrow’s standout vocals and songs that dip slightly into pop territory. It’s also an album that’s likely to raise her profile quite a number of notches and hopefully help to pay that second mortgage off sooner rather than later.

Review by Declan Culliton

The Panhandlers Tough Country Deep Roots/Make Wake

The Texan players that make up The Panhandlers formed the band back in 2019, with the intention of recording a covers album to celebrate the artists that represent the classic West Texas sound. Those artists included Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings and, in particular The Flatlanders.  Josh Abbott, John Baumann, William Clark Green and Flatland Cavalry’s Cleto Cordero’s initial intention was shelved when their 2019 Marfa songwriting session yielded enough quality material to record their own self-titled debut. Given the response and industry plaudits that album earned, it is little surprise that the collective soon started working on the follow-up project titled TOUGH COUNTRY.

With shared songwriting credits and shared vocals, the album offers fourteen tracks in total, four of which were included in the band’s four-track EP WEST TEXAS IS THE BEST TEXAS from 2022. The first single from the album is the standout Valentines, For Valentines, featuring Oklahoma country chanteuse Kaitlin Butts as guest vocalist.

Taking the reins as producer was Bruce Robison and with guitars, pedal steel, fiddles, banjos and percussion in all the right places the album captures the landscapes, characters and customs of Texas. Drinking songs (The Chilton Song), troubled love songs (Santa Fe), toe tapping-romps (Lajitas), and odes to their beloved state (Flat Land, West Texas Is The Best Texas), are the order of the day.  

In common with another ‘supergroup’ in the roots genre, Western Centuries, and notwithstanding the quantity and stature of the songwriters and players in the band, clashing egos certainly don’t appear to compete in The Panhandlers. TOUGH COUNTRY is not a radical departure from their previous recording and why should it be, if it’s not broken, why fix it? It’s simply uncomplicated and heart-warming Texas country music of the purest kind.

Review by Declan Culliton 

Lynn Miles TumbleWeedyWorld True North

This album marks a very welcome return to the media spotlight for one of the first ladies of Canadian Folk Music. Not that Lynn Miles needs any persuasion to take her rightful place, front and centre, with this, her sixteenth official release. Her last album WE’LL LOOK FOR STARS appeared in 2020 and her many admirers have been waiting with bated breath to see what would come next, post Covid and post meltdown across the globe.

Lynn recently said of the new album “These are songs that arrive at a moment when global instability illuminated the fragility of personal relationships.” Lynn reflects on these issues and the impermanence in our fractured attempts to make relationships work in any real sense. The shutting down and the letting go; the hoping for better outcomes and the wish for something that we can’t always see – these are all themes that run through the pen of Lynn Miles. As always there is a knowing forgiveness that runs parallel with all the pain and heartache we cause. Lynn holds out her arms for a comforting hug, her knowing wisdom in all the turmoil is that eventually the hope inside of us will endure.

Using real quality and experience, Lynn invited some stellar players to perform on the album and the level of musicianship is just off the scale.  Michael Ball (upright bass), Joey Wright (mandolin/acoustic guitar), Rob McLaren (banjo), Stuart Rutherford (dobro) and James Stephens (violin),  all join together in the most exquisite ensemble performance as Lynn takes the central role on rhythm guitar and vocals. Recorded at Little Bullhorn Studios in Ottawa, Canada and produced by Lynn, together with Dave Draves (Giant Sand, Kathleen Edwards), this mirrors her usual high standards and matches her previous releases in terms of excellence.

Night Owl looks at the incompatibility of two lovers ‘You like the flowers, I like the rain, You drive the highway, I take the train, I like the twilight you need the dawn, So by the time you wake up I’ll be gone.’ Memories of the past and old flames left behind are reflected on Hwy 105 in the haunting words ‘Everything’s ok, everything’s alright, It’s just sometimes I start thinking around midnight; I make us perfect and build us a little shrine, I forget that we weren’t pretty and we weren’t kind.’

Such a consummate wordsmith and the ability to capture an emotion in just a few lines is a true gift.

Cold Cold Moon reveals the harsh mistress that dwells inside, no comfort in the moonlight for our doubts and fears ‘I’m a quiet ghost tried and true, I’m a silver pearl in midnight blue, Sometimes I’m sweet but you should know, That I won’t always love you so.’

All the complexities of a woman are captured on Moody, the unpredictable nature to change with the weather, ‘Some days I want nothing, and then I want your soul.’  Another relationship song All Bitter No Sweet is pure bluegrass as it bounces along to a tale of broken love, the musicians coming together for a real hootenanny. Hide Your Heart is in a similar vein, giving advice to a woman to learn from disappointment and move on with no regrets.

Johnny Without June is such a clever song and looks at the essential glue that ties two people together into a seamless whole. Using the analogy of the famous Johnny and June Carter Cash romance as undying love, Lynn reflects that ‘I’d give anything to turn back time, I’d give anything to walk the line, To join you on that funeral pyre, To go down in that ring of fire.’

Calling out bad habits and unacceptable behaviour lies at the centre of Sorry’s Just Not Good Enough, a song that says enabling someone is not the way forward. The song Palomino talks about leaving it all behind and living free on the range with just a loyal steed for company ‘I’m a lonesome drifting girl, In my tumble-weedy-world, You’re a quiet steady soul, Painted coat and eyes of coal.’ The simple life without a care.

There is a lovely sentiment in closing song, Gold In the Middle, visiting the lure of beauty, hope, promise, love and sadness. It is an enduring prayer to the strength within us all to keep the lamp lit bright and we continue to seek our path through the darkness, looking for the eventual light. A superb album.

Review by Paul McGee

I’m Kingfisher Glue Fading Trails

Thomas Jonsson has been recording under the artist name of  I'm Kingfisher since 2010 but his pedigree as a talented musician dates back much further. Jonsson released music under his own name for a number of years before taking the decision to adopt a new persona in the image of I’m Kingfisher.

This new project is his eighth solo album – his fifth under the I’m Kingfisher moniker, and once again it proves to be a beguiling experience. Jonsson has always looked for gold in the stream of consciousness writing and the gentle melodies that populate his body of work, and this time he expands his palette to include some subtle jazz leanings into the arrangements. Never one to stand still, he is open to experimentation and a few of the arrangements apply different colours to the overall content. The jazz arrangement on Saved by a Friendly Reminder is a prime example with Jonsson providing a fine vocal performance.

His lyrics remain something of a mystery with obscure imagery and words that conjure up disparate worlds of reflection and thoughts. The songs hint at many things and there appears to be a thread running through them that links the recent Covid lockdown years with a sense of isolation and feeling outside of oneself. They contain elements of regret and self-inflicted doubt, questions concerning the transitory nature of relationships and a lingering sense of not being always comfortable around others. As Jonsson muses on the track Beginning Of A Great Song ‘Why would I love her when everybody is a traitor?’

Elsewhere he speaks of other doubts, as on Second Wave when he observes ‘There’s a dark cloud always hanging over me.’ The title track Glue references a breakdown of sorts with the realisation that ‘Every day is my comeback, I wasn’t proud of myself, Got all the pieces, haven’t got the glue.’

The use of different female vocals on some of the twelve tracks is something that works very well and adds to the gentle vocal tone of Jonsson. The contributions of Anna-Stina Jungerstam, Niamh Regan, Vilma Flood and also Sam Florian, brings much to admire in their performance. In addition, the use of saxophone on Licking My Wounds delivers a lovely resonance to the smooth arrangement. Equally, the violin and piano on Make Up A Good Time brings a sweet joy to the song and the use of pedal steel and cello feature on other songs.

Jonsson calls upon multi-instrumentalist Bebe Risenfors and her contribution is central to the album, providing beautiful playing on any combination of clarinet, bass clarinet, cornet, alto horn, omnichord, lyre, tenor and alto saxophones, accordions, piano, string quartet machine, upright bass, drums, and percussion. Renowned pianist Martin Hederos also makes telling contributions on pianos, pump organ, Moog and other synthesizers. Long time friend and producer on previous albums, Carl Edlom, makes a welcome return and in addition to overseeing everything from Trunk Studios in Karlstad, he plays guitars, synthesizers, piano, electric bass, and percussion across a number of tracks. Jonsson keeps his focus on his vocals and acoustic guitar delivery, writing all the songs and maintaining a weather eye on the big picture at all stages.

This is a folk music for the modern age, a therapeutic return to old themes that offer a healing balm together with a hint of the claustrophobia of self-analysis. Too much reflection can be a bad thing but in the hands of Thomas Jonsson it opens up the pathway to new roads and opportunities to grow from the past. Another fine album that adds to the reputation of this interesting artist.

Review by Paul McGee